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ART OF 

CLASS MANAGEMENT 

AND DISCIPLINE 

By JOSEPH S. TAYLOR, Pd.D. 

DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, SEW YORK CITY 



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NEW YORK AND CHICAGO 

E. L. KELLOGG & CO. 



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Copyright 1903, 

E. L. Kellogg & Co., 

New Yobk. 



Preface. 

There are many works on school management 
that present the theory of school order and con- 
trol from the point of view of the principal or 
superintendent. The pedagogical student learns 
in her normal or training school all about school 
virtues and motives. She is made acquainted 
with systematic treatises on the theory of school 
government. But after she has graduated and 
has come face to face with a class of mischievous 
boys, the theories that seemed so reasonable be- 
fore are now strangely impotent. She finds 
that she is confronted by a condition, not a 
theory. Class management is an art and a fine 
art at that. An art must be acquired by prac- 
tice ; and if one would make rapid progress and 
avoid errors, a teacher is necessary. 

This little book is intended as a slight contri- 
bution to the art of class discipline. It is offered 
to that hapless young woman who is just begin- 
ning to teach. Such a person is frequently of all 



4 Preface. 

mortals the most miserable. A few weeks ago she 
came forth armed with a diploma eager to do 
battle in the educational arena. The hour has 
at last come, the battle is on, the odds are 
against her ; and unless reinforcements come soon, 
surrender is inevitable. A message is sent to the 
commander-in-chief, who puts the enemy to flight 
for the moment ; but to-morrow is coming, and 
how can one live through another day? If only 
the children kept quiet, how easy it would be to 
teach ! 

Each year a considerable number of teachers 
suffer nervous prostration and are obliged to se- 
cure leave of absence. Recovery from such a 
collapse is exceedingly slow, and in many cases 
the injury is irreparable. The testimony of the 
majority of these unfortunate sufferers who are 
known to the author, is to the effect that the 
break-down was caused by the strain of disci- 
pline. Many teachers of long experience, re- 
puted excellent disciplinarians, are not really 
successful, because, while the order is excellent, 
the control costs too much in nervous expendi- 
ture. The aim proposed in this book is pro- 
gressive training in self-government, which, in 
so far as it is accomplished, relieves the teacher 
from the intolerable strain of control by re- 
pression. 

New York. Joseph S. Taylor. 



Contents. 

Preface 3 

Introduction 7 

I. Justice the Basis of School Discipline 21 

II. Characteristics of the Best Teacher 28 

III. Some Factors of Discipline 38 

IV. Devices of Class Government 49 

V. Corporal Punishment 62 

VI. Methods of Teaching Self-Govern- 

ment 76 

VII. Class Room Decoration 92 

VIII. The Care of School Property 100 

IX. The Class Library 108 



What one wishes to bring out here is that this new 
spirit in class management, which has a first and 
almost absolute regard for the cultivation of the power 
of self-government in the pupils, is by common consent 
part of the general movement which has been taking 
place in recent years. . . On the surface, dis- 
cipline would often appear to have ceased to be a 
teacher's art, and to have become a pupil's art. . . 
In reality, however, the art is the teacher s, whereas 
the act is the scholar's. From the teacher's stand- 
point, the art of allowing liberty which leads on to 
self-government is quite as high an art as that of 
repressing liberty, which is teacher government. This 
is evidenced by the almost universal testimong that 
old world educators generally fail in the handling oj 
classes of American children. — Michael E. Sadler's 
Report on American Education, London, 1902. 



Introduction. 

The character of an education is necessarily 
determined by the results which it is designed 
to accomplish. Every age has its own ideals ; 
hence the problem of education has to be restated 
from time to time, and a final solution is impos- 
sible. Among the factors involved in the ideals 
of mankind are the progress of science and art, 
the industrial and social conditions, the political 
relations of citizens to the state and of the state 
to other states, the religious opinions and aspir- 
ations of the people, and their inherited physical, 
mental, and moral characteristics. These con- 
siderations should warn us against the folly of 
attempting to import a ready-made system of 
education from a foreign country. From the 
nature of the case such a system would be a 
misfit and, no matter how excellent in the ab- 
stract, it could not long endure, unmodified, in 
its new habitat. 

Ideals of Education. 

Plato says education is turning the soul 
toward the light. This is what is meant in 



8 Introduction. 

modern times by a "liberal"" education, — the 
development of native capacity, the absorp- 
tion of what is best in civilization, the enlighten- 
ment of intellect, the refinement of taste, and all 
quite regardless of any use, proximate or remote, 
in the practical sense, that may be made of such 
culture. "The term virtue, " says Herbart, "ex- 
presses the whole purpose of education." This 
ideal, like that of Plato, looks to the perfection 
of the individual. Of like character is the edu- 
cation advocated by Montaigne, who observes 
that, whereas animals are guided by instincts 
which never change, children's inclinations are 
obscure and their promises uncertain ; hence they 
should have a general culture first, before educa- 
tion for utility is undertaken. Milton borrows 
his ideal from Christian theology, claiming that 
the end of education is " to repair the ruins of 
our first parents by regaining to know God 
aright, and out of that knowledge to love, imi- 
tate, and be like him." Vastly more compre- 
hensive than any of the preceding ideals is Spen- 
cer's conception of education as a preparation 
for " complete living," which comprises activi- 
ties concerned in self-preservation, rearing of 
children, social and political relations, and the 
enjoyment of leisure. Still more radical is 
Dewey's contention that education is not a prep- 



Introduction. 9 

aration for living, but is life. Whatever maj' be 
our intentions as adults, from the child's point 
of view school is a very real part of the life he 
is now living. His plays, his tasks, his joys 
and sorrows, are just as real and serious to him 
as the occupations and experiences of grown up 
folks are to them. The problem of education, 
according to this view, is to supply materials and 
occupations which shall develop in the child 
social insight and power; but what he does in 
school must appeal to him as being worth doing 
for itself. 

It is evident that school-room practice will 
in general be determined by the ideals thus set 
up by society as the goal of education. If the 
aim be individual perfection, the discipline will 
seek to cultivate the virtues of man as man. 
Thus Rousseau says of Emile : " On leaving my 
hands, he will not, I admit, be a magistrate, a 
soldier, or a priest ; first of all, he will be a man. 
It is less important to keep him from dying 
than it is to teach him how to live." A teacher 
holding such views will employ a discipline that 
gives free play to the spontaneity of children. 
" True success," says President Charles W. Eliot, 
" consists in making children as unlike as pos- 
sible." The pupil, " in school government, 
* * * must be his own dictator, judge, and 
jury," says another advocate of individualism.* 



"An Ideal School," P. W. Search, Appleton, 1901. 



10 Introduction. 

Such a doctrine, literally applied, will produce a 
state of disorder, which, in the case of weak 
teachers, inevitably ends in anarchy and failure. 
In like manner, the social ideal of education 
will express itself in a peculiar school discipline. 
The emphasis in this case is not upon the child as 
an individual, but as a member of a community. 
He is to develop all his power, not for mere per- 
sonal advantage, but in order that he may be a 
more useful member of society. In order thus to 
prepare a pupil for social living, he is to be 
trained in approved ways of thinking, feeling, 
and doing. This gives him " social insight and 
power." The aim is not to emphasize individual 
preferences, but to subordinate self for the good 
of the whole. In a sense it is the very antithesis 
of the individual method. In the one case the 
child is treated as if all the world existed for his 
advantage ; his spontaneity is sacred, and if it 
interferes with the spontaneity of other people, 
so much the worse for other people. In the other 
case, the child is taught to regard the social 
whole as of the first importance, and himself as 
a member of it. His highest achievement is ex- 
pressed in terms of social service, even as Christ 
has said : " Whosoever would become great 
among you, shall be your minister: and who- 
soever would be first among you, shall be servant 
of all." 



Introduction. 1 1 

Dogmas of Childhood, 
(a) Pagan. — Of even greater consequence, in 
matters of discipline, than the general theory of 
education, is the attitude of an age toward child- 
hood. We know that both the Greeks and the 
Romans had so little reverence for childhood that 
they frequently abandoned their offspring and 
allowed them to perish in the public highways. 
In Sparta, we are informed, the law required the 
father to carry his new-born infant to the Elders 
of the Community for inspection; if they found 
its limbs straight and its general appearance 
healthy, they returned it to be educated; other- 
wise it was killed. " We cannot really doubt," 
says Prof. John P. Mahaffy,* " from the free 
use of the idea in Greek tragedies, in the com- 
edies of ordinary life, and in theories of political 
economy, that the exposing of new-born children 
was not only sanctioned by public feeling, but 
actually practiced throughout Greece." Even 
Plato, " the attic Moses," and noblest of Greek 
theorists, " sanctioned infanticide under certain 
circumstances. In the genteel comedy it is often 
mentioned as a somewhat painful necessity, but 
enjoined by prudence. Nowhere does the agony 
of the mother's heart reach us through their 
literature, save in one illustration used by the 
Platonic Socrates, where he compares the anger 
*"01d Greek Education." 



12 Introduction. 

of his pupils, when first confuted out of their 
prejudices, to the fury of a young mother de- 
prived of her first infant." 

Among the Romans infanticide was a common 
practice, and was boldly defended by their best 
writers. " Monstrous offspring," says Seneca, 
" we destroy : children, too, if weak and unnatur- 
ally formed from birth, we drown. It is not 
anger, but reason, thus to separate the useless 
from the sound." 

The theory underlying these horrible practices 
was that the K'cak have no right to live. Ac- 
cording to the Darwinian explanation of Evolu- 
tion, nature, by a process called " natural selec- 
tion," weeds out the weak and preserves the 
strong. The Greeks and Romans were so anxious 
to produce a race of invincible warriors that they 
assisted nature by artificial selection. This is 
the most charitable view to take of the matter. 
They probably had other reasons for murdering 
infants less creditable than the desire to improve 
the human species. 

(b) Christian. — The Founder of Christianity 
brought a new view of childhood into the world. 
From the accounts of his ministry in the Gospels 
it is safe to infer that He was a favorite among 
children and a defender of their rights. It is 
recorded that on one occasion, " they were bring- 
ing unto Him little children, that He should 



Introduction. 13 

lay His hands on them and pray, but when the 
disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But when 
Jesus saw it He was moved with indignation, 
and called them unto Him, and said unto them, 
' Suffer the little children to come unto Me ; 
and forbid them not ; for to such belongeth the 
Kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whoso- 
ever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as 
a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein,' 
and He took them in His arms, and blessed them, 
laving His hands upon them."* On another oc- 
casion, when the disciples were quarreling as to 
who should be the greatest in the new Kingdom, 
" Jesus called to Him a little child, and took 
him and set him by His side in the midst of them ; 
and taking him in His arms, He said unto them, 
' Verily I say unto you, except ye turn, and be- 
come as little children, ye shall in no wise enter 
into the Kingdom of Heaven.' " 

This tender regard for children and sympa- 
thetic appreciation of child-nature is the germ 
from which have come the orphan asylums, chil- 
dren's hospitals, and all the numerous institu- 
tions for the nurture of defective and dependent 
children maintained by modern society. Not 
only do we now hold that all children have a right 
to live, but we try to thwart nature in her effort 
to destroy the weak by protecting them with all 
* Cadman's " Harmony of the Gospels," Revell, 1886. 



14 Introduction. 

the resources of scientific discovery, human affec- 
tion, and professional skill. 

(c) Theological. — Such was in the beginning 
and is now the Christian attitude toward the 
child. But it was not always so. For hundreds 
of years the theological dogma that children are 
by nature depraved formed a part of the educa- 
tional creed of Christendom. The government 
of both the family and the school was based on 
the theory of total depravity. It was the busi- 
ness of education, not to develop the natural 
powers of childhood, but to hinder and repress, 
to crush and destroy all the natural bent of the 
soul, and to produce a new creature. To use 
a term of Riley's, we might describe it as a 
process of " rearrangin' " nature. The will had 
to be " broken." The natural inclinations of 
the child, the spontaneous interests which are so 
eagerly sought by the modern educator, were 
regarded as the promptings of a sinful nature, 
and treated as moral leprosy. " Let not Paula 
be found in the ways of the world,'" wrote St. 
Jerome, " but rather in the company of her 
kindred and in retirement. She must not learn 
the use of wine, eat principally vegetables, and 
always be a little hungry." Milton's famous 
definition of education as the process of " re- 
gaining to know God " we have already quoted. 
The various Acts and Preambles by which the 



Introduction. 15 

Now England Fathers established free, public, 
and compulsory education show that they had in 
view two main obects : (1) To prepare intelligent 
citizens for the commonwealth; (2) To enable 
these citizens to study and understand the Scrip- 
tures in their native tongue. Education was 
intended to fit men to live properly in the Colony 
of Massachusetts during this life, and in heaven 
hereafter! There was no liberty, no individu- 
ality, no spontaneity, for either parent or child. 
Even religion was compulsory. The parent was 
coerced by the State to pay his tax and to send 
his children. There was no liberty for the child. 
He was obliged to go to school, whether he liked 
it or not ; and he was under harsh treatment 
when he went. In Germany the remarkable 
series of schools founded by Francke had for 
their basic principle of discipline the proposition 
that children are by nature bad and that it is 
the object of education to uproot the evil and 
implant the good. " Play," he insisted, " must 
be forbidden in any and all of its forms. The 
children shall be instructed in this matter in 
such a way as to show them through the presen- 
tation of religious principles, the wastefulness 
and folly of all play." 

(d) Romantic. — Rousseau was the first writer 
that successfully attacked this doctrine of child- 
ish depravity. His opening words of the first 



16 Introduction. 

book of the Emile are : " Everything is good 
as it comes from the hands of the Author of 
things ; everything degenerates in the hands of 
man." It follows from this that a child must 
be allowed to follow his inclinations in every- 
thing. Education is chiefly negative, and con- 
sists in letting the child alone with nature. 
There is no such thing as discipline. The only 
habit Emile is to have is the habit of forming no 
habits. Of course, Rousseau does not believe in 
schools, but if he did, he would say with Mr. 
Search that in school government the child must 
" be his own dictator, judge, and jury." 

(e) Evolutionary. — The theory of evolution 
has superseded the theologic and romantic con- 
ceptions of childhood in educational doctrine. 
The one cried, " Crush nature," the other said, 
" Reverently follow nature." The new says, in 
the words of Froebel : " I see in every child the 
possibility of a perfect man." The infant is 
not wholly good, nor wholly bad. It has in it 
tendencies of both kinds ; but it consists chiefly 
of an undeveloped plastic organism, which may 
be adapted to many kinds of environment. The 
lower animals have a very brief period of in- 
fancy and are governed by instinct. The bee 
learns nothing from his parents ; he is perfectly 
adapted to his environment at birth ; but he can 
do his work in only one way. Man has a period 



Introduction. 17 

of infancy enormously prolonged. " That is 
to say, the length of time that it takes for the 
human child in this generation so to adapt him- 
self to his surroundings as to be able to succeed 
in them, to make them his own, is almost, if not 
quite thirty years."* Every educator of the 
present generation conceives the process of edu- 
cation in terms of adjustment. The Herbartian 
has his " core " of literature and history, because 
these put the pupil in possession of his race her- 
itage. Dr. Harris believes that the pupil's " cor- 
relation " with his environment of nature and 
human nature can best be effected by a five-fold 
co-ordination, j" Dewey would secure social " in- 
sight " by making typical occupations the ar- 
ticulating centers of school work.| Butler 
thinks the pupil requires a five-fold " adapta- 
tion " ; that is, human environment consists of 
at least five elements which the child must appro- 
priate in order to be really human. All these 
writers are presenting an evolutionary view of 
education. " The doctrine of development says 
of the child, here is an immature being. He is 
not adapted to the environment in which he has 
to live. He does all sorts of things that would 



* Butler: "The Meaning of Education," p. 12. Mac- 
millan, 1898. 

t Report of Committee of Fifteen. 

t Dewey : " School and Society." University of Chi- 
cago Press. 



18 Introduction. 

injure him, and fails to do a great many things 
that are quite essential to a happy and successful 
life in this environment. In short, considered 
with reference to the immediate present, this 
child is about as poorly adapted to life as any 
one easily could be. But, continues the doctrine 
of development, this is, after all, not so bad as 
it might be, for the child has certain redeeming 
characteristics. He has the possibilities of varia- 
tions and adjustments in a much higher degree 
than we older people. Where we fail to fit our 
environments, we are generally so fixed in our 
habits that we cannot easily change. If we are 
unadapted now, we continue unadapted to the 
end. The child, on the other hand, has the lar- 
gest possibilities of fitting himself to his environ- 
ment."* 

New Ideals of Discipline. 

We are now prepared to see the relation of this 
new ideal of education to the problem of dis- 
cipline. We no longer look upon the child as a 
depraved being whose spontaneous impulses are 
to be suppressed. Nor do we look upon him 
as a being wholly good, whose every whim is to 
be regarded as an expression of the infallible 
wisdom of nature. We regard him as an unde- 
veloped and unadapted organism. " We do not 



* Judd: "Genetic Psychology for Teachers," p. 113. 
Appleton, 1903. 



Introduction. 19 

punish a child now because we wish to mete out 
to him vengeance for his infract ion of law. * * * 
Teachers of to-day who understand the real 
meaning of punishment do not get angry at chil- 
dren. * * ' : We look upon the child's mistakes 
and failures as phases [perfectly normal] of the 
process of development. We correct these short- 
comings as a part of our general duty of super- 
vising development."* 

Many children are unlovely, uncouth, unclean, 
untruthful. A recent study of children's faults 
shows that in the judgment of teachers, by far 
the greatest source of anno3 T ance in school is 
inattention. Parents find disobedience the car- 
dinal sin, and children themselves think fighting 
and bullying are their worst faults. "f In the 
light of psychology, inattention is clearly the 
result of lack of interest ; and lack of interest is 
the result of poor teaching. Shall the teacher, 
therefore, get angry and scold and punish 
pupils? How much more rational it is to try to 
find the cause of the trouble and remove it. 

Investigation shows that about ten per cent. 
of our pupils have some physical or intel- 
lectual or moral defect. These are half blind 
or half deaf, or suffer from some nervous 

*Judd: "Genetic Psvehology for Teachers," p. 114. 
Appleton, 1903. 

f "A Study of the Faults of Children." Triplett, Ped. 
Sem., Vol. X, p.. 200. 



20 Introduction. 

disorder, or inherit some mental or moral pe- 
culiarity which causes them to fall behind 
in their lessons and become the butt of scorn 
and ridicule, and subject to painful and hu- 
miliating punishments. About one per cent, 
of public school children are so defective that 
they cannot profitably be taught with normal 
children. It has been shown again and again 
that the children who make trouble in class belong 
in nearly every instance to the defective class. 
Yet we constantly assume that a child who falls 
behind is simply lazy ; one who cannot sit 
still is wilfully disobedient; if he cannot march 
in time, he falls out of step on purpose. Nine 
times out of ten, if the truth were known, the 
children who are punished and disliked in school 
are more sinned against than sinning. A sym- 
pathetic study of these perverts will show us 
that what we call their faults are nearly always 
their misfortunes. No child is habitually un- 
lovely from choice. No child elects to be born 
in a home of poverty, vice, or crime. He does 
not select his parents, nor his training. He is 
what he is by virtue of forces wholly without 
his control. He is sent to school just because 
he is mal-adjusted and needs guidance. They 
that are whole need not a physician. If children 
were perfect the school teacher would be quite 
superfluous. 



1. 

Justice the Basis of School Disci- 
pline. 

School Order Defined. 

In every class there are some troublesome chil- 
dren. How large a proportion of the class are 
" bad " depends chiefly upon the skill of the 
teacher. A very weak teacher is likely to call the 
entire class bad. A very strong one may not ad- 
mit that any are bad. But still, the best of teach- 
ers is likely to have a number of pupils who are 
less tractable and more mischievous than the 
others. And if he have no reason to complain of 
any one's disorder, he is certain to find fault with 
some because they do not prepare their lessons 
and are inattentive. 

The economy of teaching demands that, there 
shall be good order in the class so that all the 
pupils may be able to receive the instruction of 
the teacher without interruption or annoyance. 
How to secure this order is the first problem the 

21 



22 Class Discipline. 

teacher is called upon to solve ; for without it his 
teaching efforts are but a waste of time. 

School order has been defined as " that state 
or condition of a school in which the best educa- 
tive work is done in the most economical man- 
ner."* Good order does not consist primarily in 
a given posture, but in that interested, uncon- 
strained attitude of each pupil which in his case 
produces the desired impression of the teacher in 
the most economical and effective manner. Class 
instruction, however, puts certain limitations 
upon the conduct of pupils which do not appear 
in individual instruction. One of these is that 
they shall speak aloud only when asked or per- 
mitted to do so ; for otherwise many pupils might 
be speaking at once and so no profit could come 
to any. As a rule in large classes good order de- 
mands that pupils shall not whisper unless they 
have permission to do so. There are occasions, 
however, when it is a distinct advantage to allow 
children to confer with each other, as for instance 
before or after physical exercise, while the win- 
dows are thrown open to ventilate the room. 
Three or four times a day this should occur, and 
then children, within reasonable limits, should be 
allowed to do as they please. The relaxation 
thus secured is a great relief to the pupil and 



* " Talks on Pedagogics," Parker, p. 337, E. L. Kellogg 
& Company, 1894, New York. 



Class Discipline. 23 

enables him to take up his duties with renewed 

pleasure and profit. 

Order and Discipline. 

It is well to bear in mind the distinction be- 
tween order and discipline. Teachers often de- 
ceive themselves by neglecting this important 
difference ; but they seldom deceive an experi- 
enced principal or superintendent. The order in 
a class may be good ; there may be no uproar or 
confusion ; the children may even sit in uniform 
and erect positions ; and at the same time the 
discipline may be bad. 

I call a class badly disciplined if it cannot be 
left in a room without a teacher. Order may be 
the result of man} 7 other causes besides class dis- 
cipline. It ma} 7 come from fear or love, or the 
constant vigilance of the teacher, or the prin- 
cipal's discipline of the school as a whole. Disci- 
pline consists in the habit of obedience. It is re- 
vealed in regularity and punctuality of attend- 
ance ; in the self-control of the pupils in and out 
of school ; in the personal appearance of children 
— their habits of cleanliness and neatness ; and 
in the care and fidelity with which they perform 
their tasks. 

Obedience and Command. 

When a teacher selects a pupil to act as moni- 
tor he always takes a " good " boy. The as- 



24 Class Discipline. 

sumption underlying this fact is that a pupil who 
is not himself obedient is unfit to govern others. 
The same principle applies to a teacher. If he 
expects to be obeyed he must himself be a model 
of the obedience which he exacts from others. 
The first step of a teacher in learning to govern 
a class consists in obeying his principal and other 
official superiors. If he is not willing cheerfully 
and uncomplainingly to receive orders he is unfit 
to give orders to others. That there is no such 
thing as command without obedience is well illus- 
trated by the disciplining of Captain Chadwick 
of the United States navy. The New York 
Times, in commenting editorially on this case, 
said: 

" We are in the habit of thinking of the officers 
of our army and navy chiefly with reference to 
the power they represent, the command they ex- 
ercise, the obedience they can exact. We do not 
realize, until some such incident as that of Capt. 
Chadwick presents itself, that it is obedience and 
not command that really is the controlling element 
in their lives. And this is true throughout all ranks. 
There is not a soldier or sailor from the recruit 
enlisted last week to the general commanding or 
the admiral of the navy who is not bound in honor 
and in fact to the most complete obedience to his 
superiors, and the lowest is not more bound than 
the highest. At the summit stands the president 
of the United States, the commander-in-chief of 



Class Discipline. 25 

the army and the navy, and he in his turn is bound 
by the constitution and the laws, and is subject 
to trial before a tribunal duly provided." 

The teacher may make clear to children the 
reasonableness of a system of class government 
by frequently calling their attention to these 
hierarchies of duty and obedience. The teacher 
must obey the principal ; the principal must obey 
the superintendent ; and all three must obey the 
board of education ; the board of education, the 
mayor who appoints them ; and the mayor, the 
laws made by the people through the legislature. 

Teachers who are opinionated, intractable, and 
inclined to demur at orders are frequently the 
most rigid and uncompromising rulers of chil- 
dren. Let all such reflect upon the relation of 
obedience to command, and resolve to become 
worthy of governing others by the loyal obedi- 
ence which they render to their superiors. 

Justice and Efficiency. 
The two primary factors of good school gov- 
ernment are justice and efficiency. Where either 
or both of these qualities are lacking there can 
be no good discipline. Children do not render 
willing obedience to a teacher who is unfair. 
They cannot define j ust government ; but they 
intuitively perceive the difference between justice 
and injustice in the authority to which they are 
subject. Therefore a teacher must not be arbi- 



2G Class Discipline. 

trary ; must not make a rule at ten o'clock and 
ignore It at twelve ; must not have one rule for 
" sood " children and another for " bad " chil- 
dren. He must do exactly what he has prom- 
ised — no more and no less. As a rule it is 
better not to promise at all, nor to threaten ; but 
to say little and act ; for actions speak louder 
than words. The world never fears a boaster, 
whose bark is worse than his bite. Children do 
not fear a teacher who is constantly telling what 
he will do if so-and-so happens. But they stand 
in awe of the silent, self -centered man or woman 
who wastes no time on words, but comes with swift 
and certain retribution upon evil-doers. 

Anger is a common source of injustice; there- 
fore do not lose control of your temper. The 
central fact of manhood and womanhood is self- 
control. Every time a teacher loses this, he ex- 
hibits to his class a defect of character which 
undermines the respect of his pupils for himself. 
If you must occasionally exhibit righteous indig- 
nation, " be angry and sin not ;" do not, while 
you are passionate, threaten or punish. If you 
do, you are almost certain to be unjust. 

Above all, as you value the good opinion of 
your principal and fellow-teachers, and the re- 
spect of 3'our pupils, do not scream nor scold! 
The scold has been from time immemorial the butt 



Class Discipline. 27 

of scorn. A scolding teacher is a nuisance in 
any school. 

Those who enter the profession cannot too 
soon begin to watch their tongues and their tem- 
pers ; for on the control of these two depends in 
large measure their success. 

Justice, however, is not the only essential of 
good discipline. Class government may be just, 
but inefficient. A state may have an excellent 
system of courts and laws and civil administra- 
tion; but unless there be also a military arm 
strong enough to quell riot and repel invasion, 
such government is a failure. A teacher must 
be just, but he must also be strong. He is to be 
quiet and self-possessed; but he must not mis- 
take meekness for weakness. He is to be kind 
and sympathetic, but firm. He can be generous 
only after he has conquered; and for a teacher 
to speak of gentleness in a disorderly class is as 
if the lamb should talk of being kind to the 
lion. Conquer at all hazards, first yourself and 
then the class, remembering always that you must 
be just. 



It 

Characteristics of the Best Teacher 

He Relies on Himself. 

One of the Important elements of success in 
class control is the early determination to rely 
upon yourself. The first pronounced result of 
such a course will be a greatly increased respect 
of your pupils for yourself. Children admire a 
teacher who can help himself. 

Class control is the joint product of experience 
and native endowment. Some people are natur- 
ally gifted in the power of controlling others. 
They govern classes easily without experience, 
while others catch the trick only after years of 
practice and partial failure. Some never learn 
it at all. The old " Monitorial System " had 
some good features in it that might well be 
copied to-day. Pupils were put in charge of 
classes, and only those who gave unmistakable 
evidence of possessing the power of control were 

38 



Class Discipline. 29 

allowed to take the special training which quali- 
fied them to become regular paid teachers. 

If candidates for training and normal schools 
were required to furnish proof of their possession 
of the power to govern others as a prerequisite 
for admission, it would save a great deal of 
trouble in schools and protect many young 
people against the fatal error of choosing the 
wrong profession. 

He Does Not Detain Children After School Hours. 

Another characteristic which children admire 
in a teacher almost as much as the ability to help 
himself is the habit of dismissing the class 
promptly at the close of school hours. I am con- 
vinced that nothing is gained by habitually de- 
taining pupils, that is not lost twice over in 
some other way. I never knew a teacher with 
the detaining habit who was not disliked by the 
majority of her pupils. Nothing so embitters 
children as being daily kept in after school. The 
day is long ; the school-rooms are improperly ven- 
tilated at best ; children love the free air ; many 
of them have errands to run, music lessons to 
take, newspapers to sell, etc. For all these rea- 
sons they resent your infringement of their 
liberty. 

" Suppose a child refuses to do his work ; what 
can we do if we don't keep him in?" You can 
assign the task for a home lesson, provided it is 



30 Class Discipline. 

not forbidden by the by-laws. " Suppose he still 
refuses?" Assign it again and charge it up 
against the pupil each day until it is done. At 
the end of the day or week or month report to the 
parents their child's neglect, being careful to se- 
cure the principal's signature upon all such notes 
or reports. If, after all these efforts on your 
part, pupils still refuse to do their work, turn 
them over to the principal. 

He Secures the Respect of His Pupils. 

The success of class government depends very 
largely upon the pupil's opinion of his teacher. 
The teacher is free to express his opinion of his 
pupils and may think it of no consequence what 
the pupils think of him. It is of infinite conse- 
quence. If you will reflect a moment you will 
see that your class discipline is your moral edu- 
cation of the child. Can such moral education 
be really ennobling unless the pupil have respect 
for the teacher? You can not make all pupils 
love you; but unless you have the respect of 
your worst one, you have not altogether suc- 
ceeded. 

What is the basis of this respect? The ability 
to take care of yourself — self-reliance — is one 
source. That we have already shown. 

Justice is another. Whatever you do in the 
way of discipline must appeal to the pupil as 
being just. For this reason class punishment is a 



Class Discipline. 31 

mistake. The innocent feel that they arc un- 
justly punished. Better to allow a few guilty 
ones to escape than to lav yourself open to the 
charge of having unjustly punished the ma- 
jority. 

The Good Teacher Described by Children. . 

The discussion, by H. E. Kratz, of the 
" Characteristics of the Best Teacher," presents 
the matter from the pupil's point of view.* It 
furnishes an answer to the question, What sort 
of teacher do pupils admire? It will do us no 
harm to compare ourselves with the ideal pictured 
by the 2,400 children who were questioned by 
Mr. Kratz. They were asked to think of the 
best teacher they ever had, and then to write in 
half a dozen sentences a description of her. The 
following is a summary of their answers : 

73 per cent, said she helped them in their 
studies ; they felt that she made it worth while 
for them to come to school. 

58 per cent were attracted by the personal 
appearance of the teacher. 

55 per cent, said she was good or kind. 

9 per cent, loved her for her patience. 

7 per cent, were impressed by her politeness. 

4 per cent, by her neatness. 

2 per cent, liked her because she was cross. 



''Pedagogical Seminar)/, Vol. III., p 413, 



32 Class Discipline. 

The following statements selected from various 
papers show us still further the thought of chil- 
dren in such matters: 

" She could stand some fun." 

" She had no pets." 

" The children feel as if she was one of 
them." 

" She liked me and showed it once in a while." 

" She always got our attention." 

" She always wanted me to be thoughtful." 

" Her actions helped me to do better." 

" If you did not get your lessons, she was so 
sorry that it made you ashamed." 

" She took a great deal of interest in us." 

" She was interested in her pupils' habits and 
readings." 

" Put us on our honor." 

" By making things pleasant, so I felt like 
working." 

" Her manner seemed to give me an inspiration 
to work." 

" She never punished the pupils because she 
didn't feel good." 

" Does not scold us one time, then be awful 
good for awhile." 

" Never flew off the handle." 

" Always meant what she said." 

The following description was written by an 
8th grade pupil : 



Class Discipline. 33 

"The best teacher I ever had was kind and 
gentle and had a beautiful character, but was 
not at all ; soft.' She could change her disposi 
tion at a moment's notice, if circumstances re- 
quired it. But was not quite strict enough. She 
acted on her pupil's honor and therefore pro- 
cured better results than, I think, if she had kept 
her eye on them all the time ; and one good thing 
about her was that she did not make any foolish, 
silly rules that were unnecessary, but the ones 
she made the children must live up to." 

Every phrase in this simple composition is 
weighted with wisdom. In the first place, chil- 
dren read your character : " Was kind and gentle 
and had a beautiful character," says the little 
philosopher. Their sharp eyes read us like an 
open volume, and still more, their instinct guides 
their unconscious judgments in these matters. 
The} r know whether we are sincere or not, 
whether we have any real interest in their wel- 
fare, or teach simply to earn our salaries. 

He Teaches Faithfully and Successfully. 
From the above descriptions it is evident that 
good teaching is an important element of success- 
ful class discipline. Of the 2,400 children exam- 
ined, seventy-three per cent, liked their teachers 
because they could teach. The easiest way to 
control a class is to keep it profitably employed 
all the time. " Idleness is the devil's workshop." 



34 Class Discipline. 

A busy child has no time or inclination to plot 
mischief. In order to be able thus to furnish 
steady employment to fifty or sixty busy brains 
a teacher must carefully arrange the day's work 
at home, so that he knows at any given moment 
exactly what he is going to do next. 

It is an excellent plan to have at hand some 
extra work that is pleasant and profitable for 
bright children who get through with their tasks 
before the majority of the others have finished. 
This is not to be mere " busy " work without 
definite relation to the subject in hand, but is to 
be as a rule a part of the same subject. If the 
class are drawing, bright children can do two 
specimens while mediocre and slow pupils com- 
plete one. If the lesson is arithmetic, there may 
be two grades of work, both of the same kind, 
the bright pupils being permitted (not required) 
to , -take the more difficult. Sometimes mischiev- 
ous children have a special talent or interest, an 
appeal to which may accomplish their control or 
reformation. The talent may be drawing. In 
this case let the pupil fill up spare time by draw- 
ing maps, designs, illustrations, etc., for the 
teacher. If his strong point is reading, let him 
at the proper time read to the class out of supple- 
mentary readers. If he can write well, there is 
abundant opportunity to encourage him in that. 



Class Discipline. :i!i 

He Encourages Children. 

" By making things pleasant so I felt like 
working," writes one pupil. Children need en- 
couragement as much as adults need it. A 
teacher known to the writer recently secured a 
transfer from a certain school because her prin- 
cipal had the peculiarity of always picking out 
the flaws in her work and never praising the part 
that had no flaws. Hundreds of children suffer 
the same kind of thoughtless criticism. Their 
teachers find fault with all their imperfec- 
tions, but never encourage them by praise when 
they do well. 

Children are human as well as teachers. They 
become discouraged if they think they are not 
appreciated, and conclude that there is no use 
in trying. When a child has made a reasonable 
effort to do what he is told, even though he be not 
entirely successful, give him some credit. Say, 
" I believe John has tried ; and while the result is 
not quite as good as I want it, I believe he will 
do better next time." Be very sure, however, 
that the pupil really has made an earnest effort 
before you indulge in such speeches ; for if he 
has not tried hard and knows it, he immediately 
puts you in the class of teachers called " soft ;" 
and from that day forward your discipline, so 
far as he is concerned, will be a failure. You 



30 Class Discipline. 

cannot morally train a child who considers you a 
fool. 

He Lays Great Stress Upon Honor. 

" Truthfulness is better than the truth," 
Phillips Brooks once said. So a good disciplin- 
arian places truthfulness and honor above every 
other school virtue. The ultimate object of 
school government is to teach the pupil self- 
control. Man alone of the animal creation is 
destined to be governed by reason. This is his 
steering gear, and the machinery is very imper- 
fect at first ; only after a long period of tutelage 
does he get possession of himself. He is not a 
man until the stage of self-mastery has been 
reached. A child who is watched and controlled 
every moment of the day has no opportunity 
to develop the power of self-direction. Hence 
the teacher must get rid of the watching habit. 
He is no detective ; and he must not treat the 
child as if he were a thief. Pupils must under- 
stand that it is dishonorable to misbehave in the 
absence of the teacher. Classes can be so trained 
that they may be left alone without danger of 
disturbance. Even " bad " children like to be 
trusted. If you find it necessary to leave the 
room, say : " Shall I appoint a monitor to watch 
you, or would you rather take care of your- 
selves?" Children will always prefer the latter 
course. Make it a rule that the one time of all 



Class Discipline. 37 

times when the class and the individual must be 
models of propriety is when the teacher's back 
is turned or when he is out of the room. Have it 
understood once for all that you allow no " tat- 
tling ;" every child confesses his oicn sins, and not 
his neighbors. The great majority of pupils 
will confess what they have done in your absence ; 
the few who are too mean and cowardly to do it, 
should be made to feel the displeasure of the 
teacher and class so keenly that they will find 
" honesty the best policy " on the next similar 
occasion. 

Horace Mann once said : " Be ashamed to die 
until you have won some victory for humanity." 
I sometimes feel like saying to teachers: "Be 
ashamed to get sick until your pupils can be put 
upon their honor; for otherwise they will dis- 
grace you every time you are away from school." 

In a well-disciplined class the order so nearly 
takes care of itself that the entire attention of 
teacher and pupils is fixed upon the work in 
hand. Only under such circumstances can the 
best teaching be done. 

No class should be required to sit very long in 
a constrained position of attention. Vary the 
exercises frequently, changing from written 
work to oral, from hearing to speaking, from 
impression to expression, from manual exercise 
to thought work, etc. Half the disorder of 
classes is caused by the fatigue of children. 



nun- 

Some Factors of Discipline. 

Executive Ability. 

Executive ability is indispensable to good 
discipline. Where this is wanting, nothing can 
compensate for the deficiency Pestalozzi, it is 
true, lacked it and was a great man still. But 
his want of power in this respect made him a 
failure as a practical teacher and organizer. If 
his executive ability had been commensurate 
with the greatness of his heart, he might have 
avoided many of the sorrows of his life and 
turned his numerous failures into successes. 

Some one has defined executive ability as the 
" power to get things done." The president of 
the United States cannot run the government 
alone. Of the millions of things for whose faith- 
ful performance he is responsible he can himself 
do only a few. Nevertheless, as the executive 
of the nation he is sworn to see that all the laws 



Class Discipline. 39 

of the United States are carried out. What lie 
cannot do himself he must do by agents. There- 
fore one of the most important functions of the 
president is the appointment of subordinate of- 
ficers to assist him in administering the govern- 
ment. The management of a great commercial 
establishment like Wanamaker's requires execu- 
tive ability of a high order. Mr. Wanamaker 
takes a man who has himself failed in business 
and uses him to run a department successfully. 
He himself cannot possibly know all the details 
of his great establishments, but he manages to 
get things done. Each department is ready 
with appropriate goods in time for the seasons 
as they come around, each is run at a profit 
and is provided with clerks who know their busi- 
ness and are polite to customers. The proprie- 
tor does not directly look after any of these 
details, probably, and yet it is through him that 
everything is done; he is the life, the organic, 
spirit, of the whole concern ; and when he dies 
his business will doubtless die with him, as A. 
T. Stewart's did when he died. 

Coming down into a smaller field, the prin- 
cipal of a school is held responsible for getting 
things done. There is, however, an important 
difference between this case and the others cited. 
A business man selects his own subordinates ; if 
they fail to get things done, they receive a 



40 Class Discipline. 

little envelope with a note that runs like this : 
" Dear Madam : You are hereby notified that 
your services are no longer required." A prin- 
cipal is not authorized to write notes of that 
sort. He does not select his agents, nor does he 
discharge them. Instead of dismissing incom- 
petent assistants, he is required to train them 
to do their work as required by law. This duty 
is pleasant enough so long as he has apt pupils ; 
but when these lack docility, it makes his path 
a thorny one. 

The class teacher needs executive ability. He 
also must " get things done." And in this re- 
spect teachers differ in glory as one star dif- 
fereth from another. Some always have things 
done at the required time. Roll books, progress 
books, reports, are ready when called for ; a defi- 
nite portion of the grade work in each subject is 
completed every month ; at the end of the term 
the entire grade is completed. Every sub- 
ject is reviewed constantly, so that at any mo- 
ment the class can give an intelligent and com- 
prehensive retrospect of all that has been 
studied. It is a common mistake of inexpe- 
rienced teachers to suppose that when a thing is 
once understood by a class no further effort is 
required on the part of the teacher in that direc- 
tion. On the contrary, mere instruction, the bare 
statement of a fact, or explanation of a rule or 



Class Discipline. 41 

principle, is but a small part of teaching. No 
teacher can hope to succeed who docs not make 
systematic provision for drill — constant and 
thorough — in all the things he teaches. «At least 
once a month all the ground that has been cov- 
ered should be gone over again. The monthly 
review should include not merely the month's 
work, but all the previous work of the grade and 
of every lower grade. In a very intimate way, 
this review and drill work is related to the disci- 
pline of a class. You rfeve^ifind mental alertness 
in pupils where the discipline is poor ; nor do you 
find thoroughness of review and drill in a dis- 
orderly class. 

Drill as Related to Discipline. 
Hardly too much stress can be laid upon these 
drills and reviews. They are the discipline of 
instruction. When I go into a room and ask a 
class what they have read a majority of pupils 
should be able to give me not only the titles of 
the pieces, but the substance of each lesson. And 
then, when I turn to one of the lessons that have 
been studied and call upon a pupil to read, he 
should be able to do so intelligently and without 
many hesitations and mispronunciations. A 
teacher who so drills his pupils need be afraid of 
no principal's test or superintendent's visit. I 
hear much complaint about pupils being unpre- 
pared for their grades. This is almost wholly 



42 Class Discipline. 

due to the neglect of reviews and drills. All 
teachers go over the grade in a way, but unless 
the drills are kept up, the instruction fades 
away in a night. 

Discharging Pupils. 

When you learn that a pupil is about to leave 
school you should at once take steps to have his 
books returned. These he received from you, 
and to you he is primarily responsible. Do not 
shift this duty upon the principal. His faithful 
and efficient teachers always attend to this mat- 
ter themselves. They also see that the pupil 
who is leaving secures written authority from 
his parents for his discharge. This note en- 
dorsed by the teacher, with the additional state- 
ment that the books have been returned in good 
condition, is sent with the pupil to the principal, 
who then has before him all the evidence required 
for a legal discharge of the child. 
Giving Out Material. 

Order and system must be observed in all 
things, especially in giving out and collecting 
material. From time to time children require 
pencils, pens, rulers, compasses, scissors, pal- 
lettes, brushes, drawing kits, supplementary 
readers, etc. There is a proper way to pass and 
to return such things. The aim is to handle the 
material in the shortest possible time, with the 
least possible confusion, and with the absolute 



Class Discipline. 43 

certainty that every article given out is returned 
again. 

When a young teacher first realizes the need 
of system, in such matters, he sometimes over- 
refines his method and invents a plan that con- 
sumes too much time. The process should be as 
simple as possible and should usually require but 
a single order from the teacher. I have seen 
classes that required five or six orders to pass a 
set of pencils. Life is too short for so much 
useless exertion. Let the teacher save his voice 
for teaching. 

There are so many good ways of doing such 
things that no description of any process will 
be attempted here. New teachers will do well to 
seek information from their more experienced 
brethren. One caution, however, is submitted; 
namely : Do not allow pupils to use the school 
rulers except during the drawing period. Rulers 
are noisy and unnecessary. Children can be 
trained to rule ordinary lesson papers without 
a guide. Another precaution will save the be- 
ginner much trouble. In giving out clothing, 
never allow any pupil to put on his coat until 
all the coats have been given out. 

Class Spirit. 
This is an index of good discipline. Many 
classes are orderly enough, but manifest no class 
spirit. By this is meant the pride or satisfaction 



44 Class Discipline. 

a pupil feels in his class. It may be stimulated 
by having a number of features peculiar to the 
class, such as a class poet, class colors or badges, 
decorations, plants, pets (like white rats, birds, 
turtles, and rabbits). Of like value are class 
scrap-books, collections, and libraries. Without 
appealing to the vanity and selfish rivalry of 
children, the teacher ought to create in his pupils 
the feeling that Peter expressed on the Mount: 
" It is good for us to be here! " 

The Tone of a Class. 
Another safe index of the discipline of a class 
is a group of facts that constitute what may be 
called the class tone. This is revealed by the 
sentiments, manners, morals, and personal ap- 
pearances of children. One becomes conscious 
of the tone of a class by the voices in which the 
members speak, the expression of their coun- 
tenances, and the kind of language they use. 
Loyalty to the class, school, teacher, and prin- 
cipal, is evidence of a high tone. Cleanliness 
and neatness of person and attire speak for 
themselves. One often finds classes of which the 
majority have clean hands and faces, well-kempt 
hair, polished shoes ; and in the same school other 
classes in which there is wholesale untidiness. 
Filthy children have no self-respect. There is 
little use in preaching of a clean heart to a 
fellow who has not had a good bath within a 



Class Discipline, 45 

month. The early Chistians did not associate 

cleanliness and godliness as we are doing it now. 
In fact, they distinctly taught that the body 
must be condemned even if cleanliness is 
neglected. That ancient, theology has a good 
many devotees in these days. But a high-toned 
class must propagate the gospel of soap. Every 
public school ought to have a bath, or at least 
a lavatory. If I had my choice between a model- 
ing-room and a bath-room I should have the 
bath. 

In this matter, however, much can be ac- 
complished by kindness and tact, even without 
the facilities alluded to. The experienced teacher 
picks out clean children and compliments them. 
This suggestion, often repeated, is sufficient for 
the majority of the unclean. Such gentle meas- 
ures, if insufficient, may be supplemented by a 
polite note to the mother requesting her co- 
operation. 

Punishments. 

Up to this point we have discussed matters 
upon which there is probably a general agree- 
ment. Now we approach a theme on which there 
exists a wide difference of opinion. Whatever 
attitude one takes he is sure to be criticised by 
one school of educators or another. We shall 
therefore boldly advocate what experience has 
taught us to be a necessity, regardless of utopian 



46 Class Discipline. 

theories invented by people who are not engaged 
in the actual work of teaching. 

This discussion is intended primarily for be- 
ginners. Beginners always have more or less 
trouble with the discipline; so true is this, as 
every principal knows, that too large a propor- 
tion of novices will demoralize an entire school. 
Ordinarily the resources of an inexperienced 
teacher are exhausted in a few minutes or hours . 
First lie scolds the children; then he whips them; 
then he sends them to the principal. Where 
corporal punishment is prohibited his armory 
contains only the two weapons, scolding and 
reporting. 

It is intended by what follows to offer a 
number of suggestions which will increase the 
available means for maintaining order at the 
disposal of the beginner. My reply to all critics 
is in advance that order must he maintained at 
all hazards, and if it cannot be done by the best 
method, then let it be done by an inferior one. 
It is better to appeal to motives which might 
be open to criticism from the highest ideal point 
of view than to attempt to teach under condi- 
tions of disorder which offer no moral possibilities 
whatever. Children have a wholesome contempt 
for people who come into a class-room and de- 
liver gentle homilies on virtue, but lack the moral 
force to maintain order. Such teachers remind 



Class Discipline. 47 

me of a missionary who proclaims peace and 
good will among cannibals tnul is eaten up for 
his pains! 

It has already been said that the teacher must 
rely upon himself if he would enjoy the respect 
of his pupils. But in order to succeed thus he 
should have a large reserve fund of resources. 
It is quite impossible for a successful disciplina- 
rian to explain how he governs. You may con- 
trol by an occasional glance, by the tone of your 
voice, by your mere presence. A skilful teacher 
wields a subtle influence that cannot be weighed, 
measured, or defined. Nevertheless, it is possible 
to name some elements that we know to be present 
in good discipline. Among these are the fol- 
lowing : 

(a) A pupil must be made to feel that you 
are kind at heart and a friend of children. 

(b) He should believe in your fairness and in 
the absolute sincerity of all you do and say. 

(c) He should know that you never punish 
out of revenge, anger, or prejudice. A mother 
came to my school one day in answer to a sum- 
mons, because her boy had disobeyed, and said: 
" Johnny acknowledges that he is in the wrong, 
and speaks of his teacher in the highest terms." 
That was the triumph of a fine character. There 
are, however, mothers of a different type, who 
tell you how good Johnny is at home and in 



48 Class Discipline. 

Sunday school. They cannot understand why 
he should be bad in your school. There is more 
hope of reforming the worst little reprobate 
out of jail who has no parents, than there is of 
saving children who have been petted by doting 
mammas into self-righteous sneaks and hyp- 
ocrites. 

(d) The public opinion of the class and 
school is a powerful factor of discipline. This 
attaches to each teacher a certain rank. The 
teaching corps is organized by the little philos- 
ophers into a hierarchy, in which the various 
orders and ranks may or may not correspond 
with the official rank. Teachers are discussed 
in the playground and on the street. Things 
that occur in the class-rooms become public 
property in the little school world. And thus 
a body of tradition grows up about each teacher. 
Ask a pupil about a given teacher and he will 
give you a more or less acurate estimate of his 
character and success. When time for promo- 
tion comes, he knows definitely that he would 
like to go to A's class rather than B's for reasons 
satisfactory to himself. The school world is 
either for or against you, and your discipline 
is correspondingly easy or difficult. 

The number and importance of these silent 
influences that work for or against you determine 
to what extent your class government is accom- 
plished by conscious control and the authority 
of the principal. 



w. 

Devices of Class Government. 

Graded Punishments. 
The strongest teacher usually has certain 
devices by which he apparently governs his class. 
Each teacher ultimately evolves a system pecul- 
iar to himself. There may be a thousand ways 
of accomplishing a given result. Weak teachers 
usually make the mistake of firing their heaviest 
guns at the start, and if they fail in this noth- 
ing is left but to fall back upon the principal. 
His assistance ought to be the very last factor 
in your calculations. The following list com- 
prises a few of the possible modes of correcting 
disorder : 

(a) A glance in the direction of the offender. 

(b) A quiet summoning to the desk by beck- 
oning, and a kind but firm reminder that his 
conduct is obectionable. 

(c) A second summoning and one demerit. 

49 



50 Class Discipline. 

(d) Two demerits. 

(e) A reprimand and five demerits. 

(f) Tell pupil to change his seat temporarily 
and sit by his teacher's desk, informing him 
quietly that inasmuch as it is necessary to watch 
him you want to make it as convenient for 
yourself as possible; this and five demerits more. 

(g) Refuse to allow him to go on with the 
lesson ; let him sit with his arms folded for five or 
ten minutes, then let him write a careful letter 
on the propriety of obeying one's teacher. If 
this is not properly done, charge up a lesson 
against him and ask him to bring it next morn- 
ing. More demerits. 

By this time the session is probably at an 
end. Do all this with becoming dignity and 
self-control. Do not betray anger or annoyance, 
because that is a sign of weakness. As long as 
you are cool he is afraid of you, because he in- 
stinctively knows that you have power in re- 
serve. When you get angry and threaten, he 
knows that you have nearly reached the limit of 
your resources. 

Before the beginning of the new session, take 
him aside and say to him, " My boy, I want you 
to tell me now, before the lessons begin, what 
you intend to do this afternoon. You know I 
cannot allow you to interrupt the class again, 
and I tell vou now that I would not allow it even 



Class Discipline. 51 

if I could. What are you going to do about 
it?" 

My experience is that such a pupil will make 
no more trouble that day. 

Now, suppose a child talks when he has been 
told to keep still. The teacher is angry and 
says: " If you repeat that I shall send you to 
the principal." The pupil does repeat it and 
is sent to the office. This teacher has not ex- 
hausted her resources. A hasty threat has made 
it necessary for her to resort to the extreme pen- 
alty at a single bound, when, if she had but kept 
cool, she might have found a dozen remedies 
within her own control. 

You will notice that in the above list of class 
punishments I have not included writing a note 
to the parent or keeping in after school. These 
are still in reserve before it is necessary to call 
on the principal. 

Debits and Credits. 

In the preceding discussion I made some ref- 
erence to demerits. The use of these marks can 
be made a very effective force in class discipline. 
The method is as follows: 

Rule a book, as shown in the accompanying 
diagram, and enter each day the merits or de- 
merits of children. 

A space is made for each day because a boy 
often wants to know when he received his marks. 



52 Class Discipline. 

It is important for pupils to believe that the 
book is absolutely correct. It should be kept 
in ink so that there may be no temptation to 
erase marks. The pupil who keeps the book must 
have the confidence of the class, and just as soon 
as he loses that he should be discharged. 

It is probably better to have two monitors, 
one for the debits and one for the credits. These 
monitors sit near the teacher and always put the 
record into the teacher's desk before the class 
is dismissed. 

What are the credits? They are marks that 
you allow for all forms of well-doing, either in 
lessons or in conduct. After a writing lesson, 
every boy who has satisfied you receives a credit ; 
if his work is very good, two credits. If the 
home work is neat he receives a credit. If he 
copies something carefully into his note-book, 
his reward is a credit. If he has been in dis- 
order and bravely confessed it, he gets a credit 
for his honesty, even if he receives demerits for 
his offence. There is almost a magic power in 
credits. To earn one of these marks a child will 
perform marvels of industry and good behavior. 

On Friday, at twelve o'clock, the monitors 
make out their reports for the week. The 
teacher then tabulates the results. The marks 
for Friday afternoon are counted in the week 
following;. 





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Class Discipline. 53 

Before wc go any further with the debit and 
credit record it is necessary to turn to the 
diagram headed. Sections — March 18, 1899. 
Such a paper is ruled each Friday at noon. It 
classifies your pupils into three grades on the 
basis of merit. It leaves almost no chance for 
biased judgment. It is an automatic method 
of finding out who is entitled to go home at two 
o'clock.* Because it is based on merit, it appeals 
to the child's sense of justice. If pupils have 
to remain until three they do not blame you, 
because 3-ou did not make the classification. 
They did it themselves by their conduct and les- 
sons. 

First you find all the names of pupils whose 
debits exceed their credits. These names you 
write in the column headed " 3." This is your 
third section for the week. No boy on that list 
can have any privileges. No one can be a 
monitor. In the same column you write the 
name of every pupil who has been absent, tardy, 
or late, no matter what the excuse may have 
been. 

The rest of the boys belong either to the first 
or the second section. You then take your 
record of lessons for the week. If these are upon 



*The board of education of New York for many years 
had a by-law which permitted teachers to dismiss "merito- 
rious " pupils an hour before the rest on Friday afternoon. 



54 Class Discipline. 

the whole satisfactory to you the name goes into 
the first column. If they are not satisfactory, 
or if a boy owes a home lesson, his name goes 
into the second column. A cross will indicate 
which pupils in the second section have, in your 
judgment, done as well as they could. These 
may go with the first section at two p. m. This 
section sheet, together with the system of debits 
and credits upon which it is based, is a very 
effectual means, if conscientiously employed, in 
the control of a class. 

Other Uses of the Section Plan. 

If the rules of the board of education or of 
the superintendent do not permit the dismissal of 
meritorious pupils an hour before the rest on 
Friday, other privileges may be employed to re- 
ward the members of the first section. There is 
usually some unassigned time which may be em- 
ployed at the discretion of the teacher. The last 
hour on Friday is appropriate for general exer- 
cises, which may take a great variety of forms. 
One teacher known to the writer allows the first 
and second sections to take turns in providing a 
little entertainment each week. The exercises 
consist of readings, recitations, book reviews, 
stories, music, games, etc. The third section 
meanwhile are employed in doing work which they 
neglected during the week. 

The objection sometimes urged against this 



Class Discipline. 55 

plan, that it makes invidious distinctions and hu- 
miliates some while exalting- others, is invalid be- 
cause in any case the teacher is obliged to sift his 
pupils before he can decide which are " merit- 
orious " and entitled to be rated A or B at the end 
of the month. It is far better to employ a system 
which children can understand and the justice of 
which they can appreciate, than to sift a class by 
a mere arbitrary exercise of power. 

The Star Sheet. 
Another device, which is very effective in prim- 
ary grades, is the use of little paper stars. The 
names of all the children are written on a large 
sheet, which is hung on the wall of the room. For 
different forms of well-doing, children have stars 
pasted on sheets opposite their names. A gold 
star may mean excellence in conduct, a red star 
excellence in writing, a green star success in 
spelling, and so forth. The principal and super- 
intendent can help to make this device effective by 
showing constant interest in the number of stars 
found after the several names on the sheet. 

Atmosphere. 
Some painters are known by the atmosphere 
of their pictures. You would at once pick out 
one of Millet's masterpieces by the indefinable 
haze through which things are seen. The teacher 
creates in the class-room, by his presence and 



56 Class Discipline. 

conduct, a moral atmosphere. What should be the 
nature of this atmosphere? 

One element is warmth. Children, like plants, 
must have an abundance of sunshine. Their 
souls bloom only in a warm atmosphere. A 
teacher who is habitually " cross " is like a biting 
frost : she may subdue, but has no power to de- 
velop. Let every teacher take the moral tem- 
perature of her room and see if the conditions are 
favorable for a kinder- garten (child garden). 
Discipline of the right sort is impossible without 
class-sunshine. One must be strict, but seldom 
angry ; firm, but not gloomy ; sometimes severe, 
but always cheerful. Especially on dark and 
stormy days must a teacher make an effort to be 
buoyant. On very warm days in summer a sim- 
ilar effort is needed to keep a teacher's temper 
sweet and calm. So sensitive are people to clim- 
atic conditions that principals expect unusual 
disorders on certain disagreeable days. This 
would not be the case if teachers practiced a little 
philosophy and fortified themselves against the 
trials of these known conditions. 

But this negative method of making sunshine 
by inhibiting anger and controlling irritability 
is not the only one. A positive method is a tem- 
perate and wise use of humor. " A hearty laugh 
does more to harmonize discordant notes of school 
life than all the severe discipline." If a teacher 



Class Discipline. 57 

laughs heartily it is easy for children to believe 
her to be sympathetic and kind. Humor is to a 
class what oil is to machinery ; it reduces fric- 
tion. A normal class-room makes provision for 
the fun-loving instinct of children. 

Mr. John Adams,* in a most interesting and 
valuable chapter, discusses humor under the title 
of " A Neglected Educational Organon." The 
entire volume of Mr. Adams is a capital illustra- 
tion of the value of humor to the schoolmaster. 
Herbartianism, as usually treated by its disciples, 
is about as solemn as a funeral sermon. As pre- 
sented by Mr. Adams, it reminds one of the 
" Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," for it takes 
the form of sprightly- discourse illuminated by 
frequent flashes of wit and humor. 

Mr. Adams introduces his discussion of the 

" Neglected Organon " by quoting a well-known 

London educator, who says : " All that a teacher 

requires is a knowledge of his subject, and a 

sense of humor." Then he quotes Goldsmith's 

couplet — 

" Full oft they laughed with counterfeited glee 
At all his jokes, for many a joke had he." 

This leads to the inquiry why the school- 
master's jokes are so thin and coarse that chil- 
dren laugh with " counterfeited glee." It is 

*"The Herbartian Psychology Applied to Education," 
by John Adams, Boston.' D. C.' Heath & Co., 18fl8. 



58 Class Discipline. 

not our purpose here to discuss the causes; but 
as a candid observer we must aq/nit and deplore 
the fact that teachers' jokes are often thin and 
coarse. As Mr. Adams says, " It is better to 
laugh at a bad joke than to cry over a good 
multiplication table' ' ;but there is nothing in the 
nature of things that requires a school-room joke 
to be bad. While we advise, therefore, the free 
use of humor, we exhort teachers to watch the 
quality of their jokes. Above all, beware of the 
temptation to be sarcastic. Sarcasm is wit with 
a sting in it ; and while it has the form of humor, 
its essence is distinctly savage. The humor that 
warms the atmosphere of a class-room is genial 
and kind and pure. Many a tendency to dis- 
order can be checked by creating a ripple of 
laughter. The teacher's temper will keep much 
sweeter under provocation if she keeps herself 
ready to have a little fun now and then ; the ten- 
sion of her nerves is greatly relieved by an occa- 
sional laugh. Do not simulate hilarity by keep- 
ing on your face a stage smile; but let there be 
sincerity and heartiness in your fun as well as in 
your serious work. 

A Catechism of Discipline. 

No one can become a good disciplinarian by 

reading books or hearing lectures. Nevertheless, 

books and lectures have their proper uses. An 

effort has been made in the preceding pages to 



Class Discipline. 59 

define and analyze certain elements which good 
discipline always contains and to indicate some 
devices which have been successfully employed 
D V good disciplinarians. The first step in learn- 
ing the art of government consists in the recog- 
nition by the teacher that the disorder which he 
attributes to the depravity of the children is in 
most cases due to his own lack of skill. He must 
learn to trace wholesale disorder to a defect in 
himself — a defect of method, or of manner, or 
of character. A large majority of the children 
in any school will behave well if they are properly 
handled. 

Let the poor disciplinarian begin his improve- 
ment b} r a searching self-examination. The fol- 
lowing catchism may serve as a guide in this 
test: 

1. Do I know the difference between order and 
discipline? What have I done to make my order 
the effect of my discipline? 

2. Have I developed a class-spirit? Has my 
room any individuality that attracts my pupils? 

3. Do I render to my superiors the obedience 
which I exact from my pupils? 

4. Am I just? Have I ever been capricious? 
Have I punished children because I was angry? 
Have I ever been guilty of inflicting class punish- 
ment ? 

5. Have I relied upon myself as much as 



60 Class Discipline. 

possible? Have I acquired the habit of threaten- 
ing children with the principal? 

6. Am I in the habit of detaining my class 
after school? Does it pay? 

7. Do I enjoy the solid respect of my pupils? 
If not, why not? 

8. Do I teach so faithfully and successfully 
that every pupil must feel that it is worth his 
while to come to school? 

9. What have I done to encourage children? 
Have I ever encouraged my bad boys? Do I 
recognize and reward fidelity as well as success? 

10. Have I an honor class? What happens 
when my back is turned or when I am out of my 
room ? 

11. Do I allow "tattling"? 

12. Am I deficient in executive ability? Am 
I on time with my records? Is my closet in 
order ? 

13. Am I drilling my children enough in their 
studies ? 

14. What is the tone of my class? What have 
I done to improve it? 

15. Are my punishments kind, fair, without 
revenge, and approved by the public opinion of 
the class? 

16. Have I carefully studied and graded pun- 
ishments? Do I realize that it is not the severity 



Class Discipline. 61 

so much as the certainty of punishment that pre- 
vents offenses? 

IT. Do I have a cheerful atmosphere in my 
room? Do I scold or lose my temper? Am I 
glum most of the time? Have I employed suffi- 
ciently the sense of humor? 

18. If I joke, are my jokes coarse or refined? 
Genial or harsh? Am I habitually sarcastic? 

19. Is my class-room as pleasant as I can 
make it? What can I do to make my personal- 
ity more winning? 

20. To what extent is my class self-govern- 
ing? 



ID. 

Corporal Punishment. 

The Spirit of the Preceding Discussion. 
If you have followed the discussion attentively 
thus far, you must have noticed that emphasis 
was laid upon the self-control of the teacher 
which is to be exhibited in a just and humane 
treatment of children, in a quiet and dignified 
bearing before the class, in mellow tones of voice, 
gentle manners, and an air of repose signifying 
reserved power. The ideal held up throughout 
was an appeal to the personal influence of the 
teacher rather than to the authority of her posi- 
tion. She is to govern by force of character, by 
inspiring respect and reverence, by suggestion, 
by the public opinion of the class ; and she is 
advised to reserve an appeal to the principal as 
the very last resort. Moreover, if she is the kind 
of teacher I should want for my own children, 
she will constantly preach the doctrine of peace 



Class Discipline, 63 

and good-will. She will make much of kindness 

to animals; she will try to arouse in children a 
love of life; and will endeavor to create the feel- 
ing that it is better to cherish and preserve life 
than to destroy it. A fly even is not to be killed 
merely for amusement. The abuse of a homeless 
cat on the street is to be unthinkable in my ideal 
teacher's class ; and a boy in such a class would 
as soon aim his bean-flipper at his sister's head 
as at a harmless robin. The class-room is to be 
full of the spirit of the home. There is to be 
kindness, mutual forbearance and cooperation, 
and an atmosphere of cheer. The place is to be 
made as attractive as possible, so that the children 
may become thoroughly attached to it. Every- 
thing is to be pure, inspiring, uplifting ; and the 
teacher's heart is to be the fountain of all this 
cheer and holy influence. Nor is this a mere 
dream. I can take you to a hundred class-rooms 
which exhibit all the characteristics described 
above ; and in such a class corporal punishment 
can not possibly be employed as a means of disci- 
pline. Its use would instantly destroy the moral 
atmosphere of the room, and substitute the fear 
of physical pain for the moral and spiritual re- 
straint imposed by subtle suggestion, by respect 
for character, and by the exaltation of justice, 
kindness, and self-control. 



64 Class Discipline. 

Corporal Punishment a Relic of Barbarism. 
Time was when England had several hundred 
offenses punishable by death. We have reduced 
the number to two, — murder and treason. There 
was a time within my own recollection when the 
rod was the most conspicuous feature of the class- 
room. My early teachers in rural Pennsylvania 
had each a large collection of switches in a corner 
of the room. These varied in length and thick- 
ness to suit the age and character of the offender. 
Little folks were punished with little whips; 
while the big boys on the back seats were whaled 
with hickory sticks six or eight feet in length. 
It is often argued that the knowledge that cor- 
poral punishment may be inflicted is enough to 
terrify the unruly, and so its use is seldom 
necessary. Experience proves, on the contrary, 
that the more severe and frequent is corporal 
punishment, the more hardened and reckless is 
the sinner who endures it, It is notorious that 
many of the most disorderly children in school 
are the very ones who are beaten most unmerci- 
fully at home. A rod in the hands of a teacher 
has no terror for such children. A kind word, a 
belief in your fairness and kindness and efficiency, 
will do far more than violence to reclaim these. 
In view of what has been done in the direction 
of humane school government it seems incredible 
that any intelligent teacher should advocate a 



Class Discipline. <;"> 

return to the barbarous methods now happily so 
largely abolished. It is absurd to say that a 
school can not be well governed without the rod, 
for the thing has been done in thousands of 
schools. Government by the infliction of bodily 
pain is crude and clumsy, whereas government by 
gentler means is a fine art. He Avho advocates 
corporal punishment simply confesses that he 
has not yet acquired the art of control. In place 
of skill he would employ brute force. The prop- 
osition is repugnant to the sentiment of human- 
ity. Let who will control a school that way. 
As for me, if I had unlimited authority to em- 
ploy the rod, I should frankly announce from 
the desk to the assembled children that I intended 
never to lay violent hands upon any of them, no 
matter what the provocation might be. 

Firmness without Anger or Cruelty. 
A teacher known to the writer once visited a 
certain model school in New York — a school 
which is supposed to exhibit correct methods of 
teaching and discipline — and, in the written re- 
port of her observations, she naively commented 
upon the order of the children in these words : 
" There was more spontaneity in the children's 
conduct than we find in the public schools. For 
instance, some children were playing hide-and- 
seek during the geography lesson. Of course, 



66 Class Discipline. 

we could not allow quite so much freedom in our 
schools." 

I desire to make it very plain that I am no 
friend of that kind of " spontaneity." On the 
contrary, I believe in strict discipline. I believe 
that when an order is given every child should 
obey it. I believe that the habits of children 
should be carefully looked after — habits of pos- 
ture, of language, of silence, of attention, of 
obedience, of cleanliness, etc. In many subjects, 
like penmanship, drawing, and music, fifty per 
cent, of the success or failure in the teaching is a 
mere matter of discipline. If children have 
slovenly habits, if they have not been carefully 
trained to obey directions, the teacher's efforts 
are largely wasted. 

Standard of Discipline To Be Established and 
Maintained by Principal. 

The standard of discipline must be estab- 
lished and maintained by the principal. If 
he is indifferent or inefficient in this matter, the 
individual teacher labors in vain to improve the 
school. She may, by special exertion, maintain 
good discipline in her own class ; but she must 
expend far more of nervous energy than would 
be required if the atmosphere of the whole school 
were for her rather than against her. Many 
principals who complain of the disorder and im- 
pertinence of children, and lay the cause to the 



Class Discipline. 07 

banishment of the rod, arc themselves responsible 
for the conditions which they deplore. It may 
be safely asserted that a principal who can not 
discipline a school -without corporal punishment, 
could not do so successfully with corporal punish- 
ment. Eternal vigilance is the price of a well- 
governed school. Self-direction is to be the 
watchword; but, while children are allowed to 
govern themselves, an efficient principal makes 
the detection and punishment of infractions of 
rules absolutely certain. He must hold himself 
responsible for the proper behavior of children in 
ever}* class. If there is gross disorder anywhere, 
it is a reflection upon him ; for if any teacher is 
unable to control the children, the principal must 
do it for her. The head of the school must see 
that every part of it is under the subjection of 
his authority. 

The class teacher, too, must be strict. One 
can be firm without being angry. One can 
say plain things without scolding. One can 
command obedience without thrashing children. 
One can be consistent and persistent without be- 
ing cruel. Even in a kindergarten and a vaca- 
tion school there must be control. There is a 
great difference between freedom which children 
take because the teacher is too weak to prevent it, 
and freedom which a teacher grants because she 
is so strong that she can afford to do so. An ex- 



68 Class Discipline. 

perienced school officer will instantly detect the 
difference between the two. Freedom which is 
taken by children is bad everywhere, even in the 
kindergarten ; and freedom which is granted 
must never go to the point of interfering with 
the effective work of the class. 

Substitutes for Corporal Punishment. 
According to the views here advocated, cor- 
poral punishment should be strictly prohibited. 
Neither the class teacher, nor the principal, nor 
aiiy other representative of the school system 
should be permitted to lay violent hands upon a 
child. This rule being in force, it becomes neces- 
sary for every teacher to set up, from the begin- 
ning of her career in a school-room, the ideal of 
discipline which relies upon spiritual forces for 
control. The principal will be obliged to assume 
the responsibility of her training ; which he can 
accomplish by precept and example, in the case 
of the average novice, in the course of two or 
three years. By " precept " we mean that the 
principal is to indoctrinate his teachers with 
correct principles of government, and is to sug- 
gest to them a variety of devices whereby good 
order may be maintained. Every new teacher 
is entitled to this help from her principal. By 
" example " we mean that a principal is to be a 
model of rational discipline and self-control. If 
he himself shouts and scolds and loses his tern- 



Class Discipline. (><) 

per and occasionally strikes children, he never 
can expect the right kind of discipline in his 
school. It is possible that sonic of the principals 
who are clamoring for the return of the rod arc 
guilty of some or all of these vices ; and the de- 
fects of discipline which they attribute to lack 
of authority are really due to frailties of their 
own characters. 

It is inevitable, of course, that there will be oc- 
casional cases of defiance of school authority. 
These must be provided for, because no govern- 
ment can tolerate open defiance. Rebellion must 
be put down at all hazards. Even corporal 
punishment is no guarantee that the spirit of re- 
bellion will not thrive ; for in the days of govern- 
ment by the rod, it was customary for the big 
boys to conspire and give the teacher a sound 
thrashing when they thought he needed it. 
Where corporal punishment is prohibited, the 
following graded list of means is suggested for 
dealing with incorrigible pupils : 

(a) Notify the Parent. — When the teacher has 
exhausted her resources, she calls upon the prin- 
cipal. In such a case, however, the parents 
should be notified of the trouble, by mail or 
otherwise, and their cooperation should be re- 
quested. The writer's experience is that seventy- 
five per cent, of children reported to the prin- 



70 Class Discipline. 

cipal never come a second time. One visit to the 
office is enough to effect a cure. 

(b) Send for Parent. — The authority to 
send for parents should be conferred upon the 
principal, never upon the teacher. Business 
system requires that all communications to 
parents should emanate from the principal. 
He is the responsible head of the institution, 
and hence it is necessary for him to have 
personal knowledge of every transaction be- 
tween the school and the homes. The rules 
of the board of education should give the prin- 
cipal authority to require parents to visit him 
when their children are disobedient. Such a 
visit in the majority of cases is sufficient to bring 
about a reformation of the pupil ; because a 
father who is compelled to lose a half day's pay 
in order to straighten out the tangles of his boy 
in school is likely to take some pains to prevent 
the necessity of a second interview with the prin- 
cipal. Here is where corporal punishment is likely 
to begin ; and here is where it rightfully belongs. 
If a parent thinks his child's education can be en- 
hanced by the method of cutaneous irritation, let 
him take the responsibility. 

(c) Suspend the Pupil. — In every school 
system there is lodged somewhere the power to 
suspend incorrigible pupils. The power of sum- 
mary dismissal should be given to the principal. 



Class Discipline. 71 

After this there should be provided a formal trial 
before the superintendent. He should have the 
power, and in the State of New York it is his 
duty, to commit such pupils to a truant school 
or a similar institution during suspension. If 
this power is rigorously exercised in all proper 
cases, the last argument in favor of corporal 
punishment disappears. In the City of New 
York the principals and the superintendent have 
precisely the powers here suggested ; and in the 
Boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx in that 
city the schools have been successfully governed 
for a generation without corporal punishment. 
In Brooklyn corporal punishment was permitted 
until the final consolidation of the school systems 
under a central board of education in 1902, 
when the Manhattan rule was extended to all 
boroughs. 

A Report on Corporal Punishment. 

Many teachers and principals in New York 
believe the rod should be restored to the school- 
room. In the spring of 1903 a committee of 
the Male Principals' Association, of Manhattan 
Borough, made the following report:* 

" 1. We are in accord with the general spirit 

*It is proper to remark that up to the time of this writ- 
ing the Male Principals' Association has taken no action 
on this report, except to receive it at the hands of its 
committee. 



72 Class Discipline. 

of the laws governing punishments of refrac- 
tory pupils ; at the same time we must confess 
that there are children in our public shools upon 
whom the prevailing method of discipline has 
not the corrective influence it is intended to have. 
2. We feel justified in recommending for 
these pupils sterner measures, for the following 
reasons : 

(a) Every child, no matter how perverse he 
is, has the right to demand of us, as the chief 
element of his future welfare, that we train him 
to a wholesome respect for law. Training im- 
plies power to enforce obedience. 

(b) The child's right is our duty, from which 
we are not absolved by the mere plea of senti- 
ment. 

It is unjust repeatedly to subject the well- 
behaved children to the contaminating influence 
of one or two of their class-mates, for each act 
of disobedience or of unseemly behavior leaves 
its impress upon the minds and characters of the 
youthful observers of it. The unruly children 
of the class, taking advantage of the limitations 
upon the powers of the teachers, waste the time 
of other pupils, make class management a dif- 
ficult task, and in many instances conduct them- 
selves toward teachers in a manner that would 
not be tolerated outside of a public school 
building. 



Class Discipline. 73 

We would, therefore, respectfully recommend 
that any pupil who, upon trial by the proper 
authorities, is adjudged unamenable to the pre- 
vailing method of discipline, shall thereafter be 
deemed subject to corporal punishment, to be 
administered by the principal or by some teacher 
designated by him." 

In concluding this chapter I take the liberty 
of suggesting the following amended version of 
the above report. New matter is printed in 
italics. The report as amended carries out the 
spirit of the discipline recommended in this little 
book, and at the same time is in complete accord 
with the provisions of law now in force in the 
City and State of New York : 

The Report with Suggested Amendments. 

1. We are in accord with the general spirit 
of the laws governing punishments of refractory 
pupils ; at the same time we must confess that 
there are children in our public schools upon 
whom the prevailing method of discipline has 
not the corrective influence it is intended to have, 
either because the principal is inefficient, or 
because he has not availed himself of the author- 
ity conferred upon him by the lares as they exist. 

2. For reasons which follow, we feel justified in 
recommending for these pupils a fearless ap- 
plication of the sterner measures provided by the 



74 Class Discipline. 

rule which authorizes the summary suspension 
of incorrigible children by the principal. 

(a) Every child, no matter how perverse he 
is, has the right to demand of us that we train 
him to a wholesome respect for law. Training 
implies power to enforce obedience. A princi- 
pal, therefore, who permits an incorrigible pupil 
to remain in the class and school is unjust to his 
teachers and derelict in his duty toward the of- 
fender, besides being guilty of violating the 
by-laws of the board of education. 

(b) The child's right is our duty, from which 
we are not absolved by the fear that his suspen- 
sion may in some way count against our records, 
or that the district superintendent may not sus- 
tain our action. If we have a good case and all 
the evidence is in proper form, public opinion 
will sustain us in spite of the district super- 
intendent. 

It is unjust repeatedly to subject the well- 
behaved children to the contaminating influence 
of one or two of their classmates, for each act of 
disobedience or of unseemly behavior leaves its 
impress upon the minds and characters of the 
youthful observers of it. The unruly children 
of the class, taking advantage of the incompe- 
tence of the teacher (for every school has its 
share of beginners) or the timidity or careless- 
ness of the principal, waste the time of other 



Class Discipline. 75 

pupils, make class managemenl a difficult task, 
and in many instances conduct themselves 
toward teachers in a manner that would not be 
tolerated outside of a public school building. 

We would, therefore, rcspectfulty recommend 
that am T pupil who, upon trial by the proper 
authorities, is adjudged unamenable to the pre- 
vailing method of discipline, shall hereafter be 
promptly suspended by the principal in order 
that the city superintendent may commit such 
pupil to the truant school or similar institution, 
in accordance with the provisions of existing 
statutes and by-laws. 



IDi 

Methods of 
Teaching Self- Government. 

Class Organization. 

In the preceding chapters it is insisted on that 
the basis of school government is justice and the 
end of it is self-direction and self-control. Physi- 
cal force is never to be used, and authority 
only when influence fails. Self-government, how- 
ever, is not attained in a day. It is a matter of 
progressive development and the result of system- 
atic training. In the lower grades there will be 
relatively little, because the children lack both 
the knowledge and the training necessary to gov- 
ern themselves. But even in the lowest grades 
the ideal of self-direction must be set up, and 
all the discipline is to look toward this great 
end. As the pupil advances in knowledge he 
should also progress in moral freedom, and in 
the highest grades his emancipation from outside 
control should be relatively complete. 

Many devices which have been found useful 

76 



Class Discipline. 77 

in attaining this desirable result have already 

boon suggested. There remains one which in the 
writer's experience has boon more effective in 
teaching self-government than any other. This 
is an organization of the class under the rules and 
forms of parliamentary procedure. 
The Spellbinders. 

For a number of years the successive graduat- 
ing classes taught by myself in a public school of 
Now York, wore organized as "The Spellbind- 
ers," a title suggested by the political orators who 
stumped the State of New York in the fall of 
1894. This class organization had a president, 
a vice-president, a secretary, a treasurer, and an 
editor. The term of office was for two regular 
meetings ; that is, for two weeks. This afforded 
an opportunity for constant rotation in office. 
About twenty bo} T s had a chance to serve as pres- 
ident during the year. The teacher was simply 
an ordinaiy member of the society. He had no 
greater privileges than any one else, except that 
he usurped the office of prompter. He insisted 
upon a strict observance of all the parliament- 
ary forms. The president was drilled until he 
could call the meeting to order, put a motion, and 
conduct business generally in language which 
was not only grammatical, but was in accordance 
with the correct usage of popular assemblies. 

The treasury seems like a useless office, when 



78 Class Discipline. 

it is recalled that the collection of money in a 
New York public school is forbidden by the 
board of education. Nevertheless, we found 
a way of getting money which did not violate 
the by-laws and was very effective in promoting 
the efficiency of the organization. A rule was 
adopted under which a member was fined one 
cent for not wearing his society badge (a bow of 
blue and white ribbon) during meetings, two 
cents for failing to return his library book on 
time, and five cents for neglecting a duty as- 
signed to him on the program of any meeting. 
These fines stimulated the members to perform 
their duties, and at the same time gave us a 
little fund to purchase ribbon for class badges, 
books for the library, and occasionally ice cream 
and lemonade. Candor compels me to say that 
the teacher was fined about twice a month for 
neglecting to wear his badge. It may be re- 
marked incidentally that at that time class 
libraries had not been officially established in New 
York, and the teachers who had them secured, by 
one means or another, their own books. In the 
present instance the books had been contributed 
by children, parents, and teacher, or purchased 
out of the treasury. The library was a part of 
the society organization, and the librarian was 
elected by the members. He and the treasurer 
were the only officers who held their positions 
during good behavior. 



Class Discipline. 79 

The editor prepared a manuscript paper which 
he read at the meetings. Four contributors were 
named for each issue. These were obliged to as- 
sist the editor by furnishing original contribu- 
tions. Every article, before it went into the 
paper, had to be submitted to the teacher for 
correction. All editorials and the paper as a 
whole were submitted by the editor before he 
read the same. As a device for developing in- 
terest in composition the Spellbinder's Weekly 
was highly successful. The paper was thoroughly 
enjoyed by all, and every contributor had a mo- 
tive for doing his best. Between serious articles 
there usually were sandwiched original jokes 
made at the expense of the members. In this 
game of jokes the teacher enjoyed no immunity ; 
and he usually turned contributor himself, some- 
times taking occasion to hit off in a jolly little 
paragraph the follies and foibles of the boys. 

The secretary was obliged to write out his 
minutes very carefully and completely, and after 
correction by the teacher, to write them into the 
minute book. Nine volumes of such minutes, 
containing the doings of successive " Spellbind- 
ers " during five years, are among the priceless 
possessions of the writer. 

During the meetings the order was entirely in 
the hands of the president, assisted by a com- 
mittee on order consisting of one person. 



80 Class Discipline. 

The effect of this organization upon the 
" Spellbinders " was very remarkable. It resulted 
in revolutionizing the discipline of the class, put- 
ting it on a basis of honor, and substituting 
self-government for authority. Incidentally, 
it furnished the teacher a philosophy of discipline 
which he afterwards applied to the government 
of an entire school with the happiest results. 

There are many other forms of class organ- 
ization that might be described, such as "the 
school city," for instance; but in conformity 
with the plan of this book, it is thought best to 
present in detail one form, rather than vaguely 
the features of many. 

Below will be found a complete copy of the 
constitution under which the class organization 
here described was effected: 

Constitution, By-Laws, and Rules of Order. 

Article I. — Name. 
This Association shall be known as " The Spellbinders." 

Article II. — Object. 
The object of this Society shall be general culture 
and improvement in the art of public speaking. 
Article III. — Membership. 
All members of any class taught by Joseph S. Taylor 
(together with the teacher of the same) are members 
of the Spellbinders; but any member guilty of improper 
conduct may be reproved, suspended, or expelled by a 
two thirds vote of the members present at any regular 
meeting. 



Class Discipline. 81 

Article IV. — Officers. 

The officers of this Society shall consist of a President, 
Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Editor, and 
Librarian. These officers shall perform the duties usually 
pertaining to their respective offices. No person shall 
hold two offices at the same time; and no person shall 
be eligible to the same office twice in succession, except 
the Treasurer and Librarian, who shall hold office until 
their successors are elected. All officers except the 
Treasurer and Librarian shall hold office for a term of 
two regular meetings. 

Article V. — Committees. 

The following Committees shall be appointed by the 
President to serve during one term of office: — 

1. Committee on Arrangements, consisting of one 
person, who shall have charge of the Society's property 
and shall prepare the room for the meetings of the 
Society. 

2. Committee on Order, consisting of one person, who 
shall assist the President in maintaining order. 

3. A Programme Committee, consisting of three per- 
sons. It shall be the duty of this Committee to submit 
at each regular meeting a programme of exercises for 
the meeting next following. 

4. A Nominating Committee, consisting of three mem- 
bers, whose duty it shall be to submit, at every alternate 
regular meeting, a list of nominations for the offices 
to be filled. It shall be their duty also to act as tellers 
of election, and to provide the members with blanks for 
ballots. 

Article VI. — Meetings. 
The regular meetings of this Society shall be held on 
Friday afternoons, beginning and closing at such hours 
as the Society may agree upon. The President shall 
call a special meeting when, in his judgment, it is 
necessary, or when requested in writing by five members. 
A majority of all the members shall constitute a quorum 
at all meetings. 



82 Class Discipline. 

Article VII. — Order of Exercises. 
The exercises of this Society shall be as follows: — 

1. Calling to Order. 

2. Reading of Minutes. 

3. Reports of Officers or Special Committees. 

4. Election of Officers. 

1. Report of Nominating Committee. 

2. Other Nominations (if any). 

3. Balloting. 

5. Miscellaneous Business. 

1. Appointment of Committees. 

2. Etc., etc. 

6. Inaugural Address (Not more than 5 minutes in 

length). 

7. Debate (Every alternate meeting). 

9' Esta-"" 1 QU6Sti0n " I When there is 

c ^' T no Debate. 

10. Recitation or Reading. ) 

11. Decision of the House on the Merits of the Argu- 

ments Produced. 

12. General Debate. 

13. Reading of Spellbinders' Weekly. 

14. New Business. 

Report of Programme Committee. 

2. Report of Tellers. 

3. Etc., etc., etc. 

15. Adjournment. 

Article VIII. — Debate. 

Four persons shall be appointed by the Programme 
Committee to speak in regular debate, two on each side 
of the question; and these speakers, together with the 
Referee of a question, the Essayist, Reciter, or Reader, 
shall be limited to five minutes each. No person shall 
speak more than once in General Debate, nor longer 
than two minutes. 

Article IX. — The Paper. 

The paper of this Society shall be called " The Spell- 



Class Discipline. 83 

hinder*' Weekly." It shall be edited and read by the 
Editor; and it shall be the duty of the Programme 

Committee to appoint four persons as contributors to 
the paper for the meeting immediately following such 
appointment. 

Article X. — Parliamentary Law. 

All points of order not defined by the Constitution 
and By-Laws shall be decided on the authority of 
Cushing's Manual. 

Article XI. — Suspension. 

Any part of the Constitution, except Art. XII, may 
be suspended for a single session by a vote of three- 
fourths of the members present. 

Article XII. — Amendment. 

This Constitution and By-Laws may be amended as 
follows: The proposed amendment shall be submitted 
in writing, and can not be acted on at the same meeting 
at which it is proposed. Three-fourths of all the mem- 
bers must vote for the proposed amendment, and a 
quorum for amendment shall consist of four-fifths of 
all the members of the Society. 

BY-LAWS. 
Article I. — The Library. 

Sec. 1. — Books may be taken out only on Friday or 
the last school day of the week; but they may be re- 
turned on any day of the week. 

Sec 2. — No books shall be kept out longer than two 
school weeks. 

Sec 3. — A member desiring a book shall write the 
catalogue number of it upon a card and hand the same 
to the Librarian on Thursday or the day preceding the 
last school clay of the week. If several members call 
for the same book, the member whose card is first re- 
ceived shall be entitled to the book. 

Sec 4. — Xo member shall mark or in any manner 
injure a book. And it shall be the Librarian's duty to 



84 Class Discipline. 

examine carefully each book when it is returned and 
to report all violations of these By-Laws. A member 
found guilty shall forfeit the privileges of the Library. 

RULES OF ORDER. 
The following Rules have been prepared chiefly from 
Cushing's " Rules of Proceeding and Debate in De- 
liberative Assemblies." The figures at the end of the 
paragraphs refer to the sections in the Manual: 

OFFICERS AND MEMBERS. 

1. The President having taken the chair and called 
the Society to order, the other officers shall, at his direc- 
tion, take their respective seats. 

2. The President shall restrain the members within 
parliamentary usage (27). 

3. The President shall have the preference to speak 
on points of order, but should always give an opportun- 
ity to any other member to express his opinions. 

4. Any person addressing the Society or Chair shall 
rise. 

5. A member is not entitled to the floor until he has 
addressed the Chair, and has been recognized by the 
Chair (46). 

6. If two or more members rise and address them- 
selves to the Chair at the same time, or nearly so, he 
should give the floor to the member whose voice he first 
heard (47). 

7. The person by whom a motion is made should be 
entitled to the first speech (204). 

8. If a member be misrepresented by a speaker, he 
should be entitled to the floor to defend himself. 

9. A member shall not be interrupted while speaking, 
except to call him to order, to ask leave to explain, or 
to state a matter of privilege. 

10. A member digressing from the matter of the ques- 
tion, or using improper language against the Society or 
any member, shall be called to order (228). 



Class Discipline. 85 



11. V member called to order shall take his seat until 

the point is decided (unless lie is permitted to explain), 
after which lie may continue his remarks if the Society 
does not object. 

APPEALS. 

1?. If the decision of the Chair is not satisfactory, 
an appeal may be made immediately after the decision 
has been rendered by the President (154). 

18. An appeal must be made in writing, signed by 
three members (151). 

14. The question is then stated by the President: 
" Shall the decision of the Chair stand as Hie decision 
of the Society?" After having been open for debate, 
it is decided as any other question (154). 

15. The President is allowed to take part in the debate, 
either from the Chair, or by appointing a Chairman 
pro tempore while he occupies the floor. 

16. A motion to lay an appeal on the table is always 
in order. 

MOTION'S A> T D RESOLUTIONS. 

17. "When a motion, made and seconded, has been 
stated by the President, or caused by him to be read, 
it is in the possession of the Society (56). 

18. Before a motion is in the possession of the Society, 
it is not in order for any other motion to be made, or 
for any member to speak on it. 

19. After a motion is in the possession of the Society, 
it cannot be withdrawn by the mover, if objections are 
made to the withdrawal, unless he obtains leave to do 
so, by a motion made and seconded as in other cases 
(56).' 

20. Before a motion has been stated or read, it is 
competent for the mover to withdraw or modify it with- 
out any motion for the purpose (56). 

21. "When a motion is regularly before the Society, 
no other motion can be received unless it is privileged 
(58). 



86 Class Discipline. 

22. No motion can be made without rising and ad- 
dressing the Chair, and being called to by the President 
(200). 

23. When a question has been decided, a motion to 
reconsider it can not be made before some other motion 
or business has intervened. 

24. Motions to suppress a useless or inexpedient propo- 
sition, are the previous question and indefinite postpone- 
ment (60). 

Motions to defer the consideration of a question are 
j>ostponement to some future time, and to lie on the 
table (60). 

QUESTION OF ORDER. 

25. A question of order may be raised by any member, 
and is decided without discussion by the President, as 
follows: " The point is well taken" or "The point is 
not well taken," as the case may be. If his decision is 
not satisfactory, however, any member may appeal from 
it and have the question decided by the Society, subject 
to the rules for appeal (154). 

DEBATE. 

26. No member shall interrupt another while speak- 
ing, except in accordance with Rule No. 9. 

27. No person in speaking shall be allowed to mention 
a member then present by his name; but shall describe 
him as the member who spoke last, or last but one, or 
on the other side of the question, or by some other 
equivalent expression. 

28. No person shall digress from the matter of the 
question under debate, to fall upon the person of an- 
other, and to speak reviling, nipping, or unmannerly 
words of or to him. 

29. All motions, resolutions, etc., are debatable, ex- 
cept : — 

1. A motion to adjourn. 

2. A motion to lie on the table. 

3. A motion for the previous question. 



Class Discipline. NT 

4. A motion to read a paper, pending a question. 

ORDER AXD SUCCESSION OV QUESTION'S. 

30. When a question is regularly before the Society 
no other question can be put except, — 

1st. Privileged Questions: 

Motion to adjourn; 

Question of privilege; 

Motion for orders of the day. 
2d. Incidental Questions: 

Question of order; 

Motion for the reading of papers; 

Withdrawal of a motion; 

Suspension of a rule; 

Amendment of an amendment. 
3d. Subsidiary Questions: 

Motion to lie on the table; 

Motion for previous question; 

Postpone to a day certain; 

Commitment ; 

Amendment ; 

Postpone indefiniteh'. 
These motions are arranged in their order of pre- 
cedence among themselves. 

31. A motion to adjourn, unqualified, takes precedence 
of all others, and is always in order, except, — 

1st. When a member is speaking; 

2d. When the. Society is voting; 

3d. When no business has been transacted since 

a motion to adjourn has been decided in 

the negative. 

32. When no other business is before the Society, a 
motion to adjourn may be amended. When it supersedes 
the pending question, it must simply be to " adjourn," 
without any particular day added, and cannot be 
amended (137). 

33. A motion to adjourn except to a day certain, is 
not debatable. 



88 Class Discipline. 

34. A motion to lie on the table decided affirmatively, 
removes the matter before the Society, until by a motion 
and vote it be again taken up (173). 

35. A motion to lie on the table cannot be amended 
(170), nor can it be debated. 

36. When a member moves the previous question, and 
this is seconded, the Chair must immediately put the 
question: "Shall the main question be noiv put?" A 
negative decision suppresses the main question for the 
day (64). If decided in the affirmative, the main ques- 
tion is to be put immediately (65). 

37. A motion for the previous question cannot be 
amended (170), or debated. 

38. A motion to postpone to a day certain may be 
amended by substituting: one day for another (176). 

39. A subject should be referred to a committee when 
more careful consideration is required than can be given 
in the Society. A subject may also be recommitted 
(73). 

40. A motion to commit or recommit may be amended 
by substituting one committee for another, by altering 
the number of members, or by instructions (181). 

41. In form an amendment may be made by, — 

1st. Inserting or adding certain words; 
2d. Striking out certain words; 
3d. Striking out certain words, and inserting or 
adding others (94). 
49. An amendment may be amended (96), but an 
amendment to an amendment cannot be amended (97). 
43. An amendment to an amendment must be decided 
first (165). 

44. A vote either adopting or rejecting an amend- 
ment cannot afterward be altered (98), except to re- 
consider (256). 

45. A motion to postpone indefinitely may be amended 
by making it to a day certain (176). A matter in- 
definitely postponed cannot be renewed (67). 



Class Discipline. 89 

TAKING THE QUESTION. 

46. The President having stated the question, he puts 
it in the affirmative, thus: "As main/ as arc of opinion 
that [repeating the question] say Aye;" and then in the 

negative, thus: "As many as arc of a (liferent opinion, 
say No " (338). 

+7. If the President is unable to decide the question 
by his car. or if any member desires it, he shall direct 
the Society to divide by rising, that the vote may be 
counted (-41). 

48. If the members are equally divided, it then be- 
comes the duty of the President to give the casting vote; 
in doing which he may jive his reasons (243). 

YEAS AND NAYS. 

49. Any vote may be decided by yeas and nays when 
ordered by seven members. Every member present is 
required to vote (244). 

50. In order to take a question by yeas and nays both 
sides are stated at once, as follows: "As many as are of 
opinion that [stating the question] will, when their names 
are called, answer Yes; and as many as are of a dif- 
ferent opinion will, when their names are called, answer 
Xo." 

51. After the question has been thus put, the Secretary 
shall call the roll, and each member, as his name is 
called, shall rise and answer Yes or No (245). 

52. When the vote has been taken, the Secretary shall 
read over the list of names, first on the affirmative, 
then on the negative, to afford an opportunity for cor- 
recting any mistakes that may have been made in re- 
cording the votes, after which he shall count the votes 
and report the number to the President, who will then 
declare the result to the Society (245). 

53. During the progress of the vote, no motion is in 
order, nor can the debate be renewed (247). 

RECONSIDERATION. 

54. Any motion may be reconsidered, provided the 



90 Class Discipline. 

motion for reconsideration be made and seconded by 
members who voted with the majority (257). 

55. If the motion for reconsideration prevail, the 
subject is again open for debate on the original motion, 
in the same manner as if that motion had never been 
passed (257). 

COMMITTEES. 

56. A Committee may be appointed to consider any 
particular subject, to obtain information, or to perform 
certain duties (261). 

57. A Committee may be instructed by the Society at 
the time of appointment, or while in the performance 
of its duties, if necessary (262). 

58. Standing Committees shall perform their duties 
as designated in the Constitution and By-Laws of the 
Society. 

59. The number on a special Committee shall be deter- 
mined by the President, or the members of the Society 
(264). 

60. The member first named by the President shall 
act as Chairman, or the Committee shall elect its own 
Chairman, unless he be designated by the mover of the 
motion to appoint (273-274). 

61. A Committee once discharged may be revived. 
A Committee appointed for one purpose, may perforin 
other duties of the same or a different character (269). 

62. The Society may resolve itself into a Committee 
of the Whole, on motion regularly made and carried for 
the purpose. The President shall announce the result 
of the vote, and designate some member to act as Chair- 
man, or the Committee may, by regular motion, elect a 
Chairman (297). 

63. A Committee of the Whole shall observe the fol- 
lowing rules: — 

1 . The previous question cannot be moved by the 

Committee (303). 

2. The Committee cannot adjourn (304). 



Class Discipline. 91 

3. It cannot refer any matter to another Com- 
mittee (306). 
•1. Every member may speak as often as he can 

obtain the floor (305). 
5. The President may take part in the debate and 
proceedings (307 ) . 
G-t. To dissolve a Committee of the Whole, a motion 
that the Committee rise, must be made and seconded, 
which being carried, the President of the Society shall 
resume his seat (310). 

65. A Committee of the Whole shall report through 
its Chairman, or some other members, to the Society, at 
any time fixed by the Society. 

Joseph S. Taylor, 
Henry J. Clixch, 
Joseph T. O'Brien, 

Committee on Constitution. 



iwi. 

Class Room Decoration. 

Why We Decorate. 

(a) There is, first, the desire to adorn the 
school-room. All normal persons love the beauti- 
ful. Children feel more at home in a room that 
is tastefully decorated than they do in one whose 
aspect is plain or ugly. Superintendent Kratz 
found that out of 2,411 children questioned fifty- 
eight per cent, mentioned personal appearance 
as one of the elements which attracted them. 
Every legitimate effort should be made by the 
teacher to make himself and the school-room at- 
tractive to the child. Neatness in personal ap- 
pearance and appropriate decoration of the room 
are such legitimate* means. 

* It may be added, by way of caution, that to bid for 
popularity by catering to children's caprices and excus- 
ing them when they ought to be punished, is not a 
legitimate method of attracting them. They themselves 
describe a teacher guilty of this practice as being 
" soft." They admire a strict disciplinarian, if to his 
rigor ho adds impartial justice. 
92 



Class Discipline. 93 

(b) But beautiful surroundings arc demanded 
not merely for the purpose of attracting the child 
in order that he may be successfully instructed 
in the different branches of the curriculum. 
There is education of the highest order in the 
beautiful environment itself. Refinement can 
never be taught merely by precept. Example, 
in matters of taste, is far more potent with the 
child than formal instruction. A neat teacher 
begets neatness in his pupils. A slovenly teacher 
finds his untidiness reproduced in his class, and 
an exhortation from him on tidiness would 
scarcely be taken seriously by the children. 

A beautiful class-room is in itself an eloquent 
teacher. The very walls become a means of 
grace to the child. His aesthetic ideals are 
refined, his judgment is cultivated, and he will 
thus be prepared to enjoy the beautiful in nature 
and art. It is not depreciating teachers to say 
that they themselves are sometimes in need of the 
culture that comes from systematic attention to 
aesthetic details of school environment. Teachers, 
even those who teach art, are often lacking 
in good taste, particularly in matters of dress. 
Intelligent and persistent effort to keep one's 
self and the school-room tidy and attractive 
must react and develop one's own aesthetic judg- 
ment. 



94 Class Discipline. 

How to Decorate. 

Much may be accomplished in school decora- 
tion, negatively, by the mere application of the 
principles of good house-keeping. Window 
sills covered with empty flower-pots, wash-basins, 
and milk bottles can hardly be considered 
evidences of tidiness and cleanliness. Walls, 
doors, and desks bespattered with ink do not add 
to the attractiveness of a room. Neatly painted 
walls that have been carelessly soiled, or marked, 
or defaced by the driving of nails betray a want 
of taste as well as a lack of consideration for an- 
other's property. The floors should be kept clear 
of litter ; the blackboard should be washed at least 
once a da} 7 ; the moldings and the work exhib- 
ited on the walls should be frequently dusted. In 
all these matters it is our duty to train the chil- 
dren ; and how can we consistently require of 
them what we ourselves do not practice? The 
teacher will always find willing hands to do this 
work of tidying up. He need not do any of it 
himself, but he must assume the responsibility 
of it and supervise the doing. 

The bare room itself should be beautiful. 
Here the work of the school architect is of the 
highest consequence. He must consider it his 
duty not only to render the room hygienic and 
comfortable by regulating the size, light, ven- 
tilation, disposition of seats, etc., but also to 



Class Discipline. 95 

make it pleasant to the eye by reasonable archi- 
tectural adornment and by providing agreeable 
tints for the walls and ceiling. 

The school authorities have in some cities ad- 
ded to the features enumerated above pictures 
and busts of recognized artistic merit. But 
where school boards do not feel justified in using 
public funds for the purchase of school-room 
decorations, the ingenuity of the teachers must 
be depended upon to supply the deficiency. Of 
course, they cannot be expected to buy out of 
their meager salaries works of art to adorn the 
schools. They will, therefore, be obliged to rely 
chiefly upon children's work and upon such 
school property as may have decorative value. 

Children's work, however, seldom possesses 
genuine artistic merit. Yet it has other uses 
which make it important as an aid in teaching. 
Good school work of any kind stimulates pupils 
to greater effort. The teacher's model may be 
so perfect as to discourage the pupil ; but there 
is always a measurable distance between the 
achievement of one pupil and his less successful 
companion. In penmanship, composition, and 
drawing, very much may be accomplished by 
putting up the work of the more successful pupils 
as models. 

At the beginning of a term the work of a 
previous class may be used; but as soon as pos- 



96 Class Discipline. 

sible this should give place to specimens produced 
by the new class. 

Work of unusual merit may be put up for the 
term; but a great deal of work which is only 
relatively good, though far from perfect, may be 
temporarily employed as a stimulus during the 
recitation period. Work that is put up for the 
term should have no manifest or glaring errors 
or deformities. For instance, if a letter is ex- 
hibited it should be reasonably accurate as to 
form and substance. If a drawing or painting 
is shown, it must not be of a character to offend 
the taste of cultivated persons. And — let it be 
repeated again- — under no circumstances must 
such work be allowed to accumulate heaps of 
dust; nor must it be allowed to remain in place 
after being torn, or curled, or otherwise damaged. 
Just as soon as work ceases to be beautiful or 
useful it becomes an offense. 

A modicum of good taste, a liberal use of 
common sense, and a cheerful spirit will accom- 
plish wonders in making a room attractive with- 
out the purchase of expensive pictures. 

One of the most effective means for making a 
room attractive is the use of tilings that are 
alive — either plants or animals. In almost any 
room at the beginning of a term, seeds may be 
planted and left on the window sill. If the pots 
are not themselves attractive their deformities 



Class Discipline. 07 

may be readily covered over with tinted paper. 
An aquarium or balanced jar is also ornamental 
as well as useful. Such a jar should, as a rule, 
be kept out of direct sunlight. It may be placed 
on the teacher's desk, or, in a room with northern 
exposure, there is no objection to having it near 
the window. 

In putting up work it is advisable to use tacks 
sparingly and nails not at all. A small drawing 
or composition fastened with four clumsy carpet 
tacks is not an edifying spectacle. If thumb 
tacks are not available pins are usually sufficient 
to hold papers. Where a number of specimens 
of the same kind are to be exhibited, the papers 
should be of uniform size and pinned together in 
strips, which are then suspended side by side ; or 
they may be arranged horizontally in the form 
cf a frieze or border. 

Care should be taken to have specimens " well 
placed ;" that is, placed with due regard to space- 
filling, symmetry, and proportion. If a paper 
is fastened against a panel it should be exactly 
in the center. I have seen teachers spend much 
energy in trying to get a pupil to " place " his 
drawing well on paper, who afterwards took the 
finished drawing and " placed " it very badly on 
the wall of the class-room. 

Much care should also be exercised as to the 
appearance of the blackboard. Its daily washing 



98 Class Discipline. 

is assumed. The teacher's penmanship should be 
large and legible. Here also the " placing " of 
matter is an item of importance. Matters of a 
permanent character, like the history of the at- 
tendance, should be neatly and compactly kept in 
a corner. Work of a temporary character should 
generally be immediately erased. For this pur- 
pose it is well to have one or more monitors who 
attend to the cleaning of the board without wait- 
ing to be told. 

Let every teacher who has not given this mat- 
ter serious attention make up his mind to start im- 
mediately. Let each devote a little thought to 
the problem of his particular room. Begin with 
the negative items by avoiding, as far as possible, 
the features that disfigure — the litter on the 
floor, the spatter on the wall or desk, the display 
of ugly and dirty objects on the window sills. 
If you have any pictures, consider well the most 
appropriate place for each. Then hang them 
without driving nails into the wall. If you have 
display work made by your last class, select only 
the best, and again make up your mind to put it 
up without the use of nails. Take as much interest 
in making your temporary quarters in the school 
cozy and attractive as you would if they were 
your permanent abode. And, above all, do noth- 
ing to disfigure the rooms, nor allow the chil- 



Class Discipline. 99 

dren to do anything which you would not do or 
allow to be done in your own home. 

In this discussion I have purposely refrained 
from any reference to school decoration which in- 
volves the outlay of money. The principal or the 
club or the citizens' committee may do wonders 
and transform a desert school-house into an art- 
istic fairyland. This is the sort of work that is 
usually described in articles and books on school 
decoration. But the vast majority of class-rooms 
in the public schools are dependent upon the re- 
sources of the teacher for all the adornment they 
ever possess. The most attractive feature in any 
room is, of course, " the ornament of a meek and 
quiet spirit " possessed by the teacher. But in 
addition to this he may embellish the plain walls 
of his room, cover up deformities, and make 
vacancy eloquent with suggestion by the use 
of the simple means I have endeavored to point 
out. 



LofC. 



Mfli 

The Care of School Property. 

The Ethics of the Case. 

Benjamin Franklin was an uncommonly wise 
man. On the subject of borrowing books he has 
this to say: 

" I now had access to better books. An ac- 
quaintance with the apprentices of booksellers 
enabled me sometimes to borrow a small one, 
which I was careful to return soon and clean. 
Often I sat up in my room reading the greatest 
part of the night, when the book was borrowed 
in the evening and to be returned early in the 
morning, lest it should be missed or wanted." 

The principle exemplified by Franklin's con- 
duct is that you are to be more careful of bor- 
rowed property than you would be if it were your 
own. He not merely returned the books soon 
and clean, but took extraordinary pains to be 
punctual. 

The teacher must make conscious and emphatic 
100 



Class Discipline. 101 

the ethics of the use of school property. But 
here, as in all cases of discipline, practice must 
tally with precept. If the teacher himself is 
wasteful in the use of supplies, and careless with 
school property in general, his good advice to 
children will fall on deaf ears. " How econom- 
ical shall we be?" teachers sometimes inquire. 
The answer is, " Use school supplies as if you 
owned them." What would you do if your class 
were your private school and the tuition fees in- 
cluded the necessary supplies? You would give 
children everything they needed, but would be 
careful not to waste anything. You would not 
use a full sheet of white paper to spell ten w r ords. 
You would not allow a dozen children each to de- 
stroy three or four sheets of paper in the course 
of a drawing lesson. You would not have great 
stacks of new paper carelessly thrown on the 
floor of a dirty closet, or left exposed where dis- 
honest pupils might take it at pleasure. 

The municipality is the proprietor of these 
schools. You are the agent of the city. As 
such agent you must adopt the motto : " Millions 
for necessities, but not one cent for waste." 

One of the first things you must impress upon 
a new class is this ethical principle. Call the 
attention of the children to the advantages they 
possess. We are sheltered by a comfortable 
building, furnished free by the liberality of 



102 Class Discipline. 

the taxpayers. Our books, stationery, maps, 
and appliances are freely offered in abun- 
dance by the same liberal public. The very 
least we can do to show our appreciation of 
these gifts is to take good care of them. How 
indecent, how wicked, is the pupil who wantonly 
destroys or defaces school property ! 

Furniture. 

Having delivered this homily, it will not do to 
drop the matter for the rest of the term. Nor 
will it be wise for the teacher himself to climb, 
a moment later, upon a desk and stand upon 
the varnished top in order to reach a shelf in the 
wall closet. No matter how old the furniture 
is, as a matter of principle, no pupil should be 
allowed to stand upon the unprotected top of a 
desk for any purpose. If he is well trained he 
Mould not thus stand upon a chair or piano or 
bureau at home, and he should be so taught in 
school that his habit, if not his instinct, will 
induce him to protect school property from un- 
necessary defacement. 

If the importance of this matter is thus early 
impressed upon a class, and if they are warned 
against these least offenses, the graver matter 
of carving desks will take care of itself. If a 
boy finds that the smallest scarring or scratch- 
ing is treated as a serious affair, it will never 
occur to him to cut a desk. Whether the fur- 



Class Discipline. 10.3 

niture be in good condition or had, the teacher 
must make up his mind that it shall at least be 
no worse when he is through with it than it was 
when he took charge of it. 

Text-books. 

The pupil in the public school of to-day has 
books literally thrust upon him. Not only does 
he receive all text-books, pencils, pens, paper, 
ink, drawing material, etc., free of charge, but 
a school or class library is usually provided for 
him, besides a large supply of supplementary 
readers on music, literature, science, history, and 
geography. Our first duty is to remind the 
child that these things cost a lot of money (an 
average of about two dollars for a grammar 
pupil per year in New York city) and that some- 
body has to pay for them. 

In former times children were required to buy 
their own books. This plan has some undoubted 
advantages. One is that the pupil can keep his 
books for future reference when he leaves school. 
Another is that if he chooses to do so he may 
make marks in his books, insert notes and ex- 
planations in places where the same are needed, 
emphasize thoughts or expressions of special 
importance, and thus make such matters more 
easily accessible and available for future use. 
All accurate scholars like thus to mark their 
books so that in case of need they may turn to 



104 Class Discipline. 

them, as to old friends, for assistance. But our 
inflexible rule in respect to a borrowed book is 
that the pupil shall not mark it in any way. 
One can hardly feel the same reverence for a book 
that must be thus carefully handled and kept at 
a safe distance, that he has for a book that is his 
very own to have and to hold and to mark up as 
he pleases. 

1. Receipts. — When books are delivered by the 
supply department to a school the principal is 
obliged to give a receipt for the same. This 
makes him the responsible custodian of such sup- 
plies. The careful principal will probably 
demand a similar receipt from teachers when he 
gives out books at the beginning of a term. In 
case of inquiry he will thus be in a position to 
show what he has done with the books he receipted 
for. But if the teacher is to receipt for books, 
how is he to prove his faithful stewardship ? By 
requiring in his turn a receipt from the pupil. 
Let each child, when books are given out, write 
upon a slip of paper the names of all the books he 
receives, together with a mark indicating the con- 
dition of each, and then sign and date the slip. 
Let the teacher arrange these receipts in alpha- 
betical order and file them away. When books 
are returned the pupil may have his receipt or 
it may be destroyed. If at any time a pupil 
claims not to have received a certain book, his 



Class Discipline. 105 

receipt will settle all doubt. Likewise, if he be 
charged with having wantonly destroyed his 
books, the receipt will either prove or disprove the 
charge. 

2. Covered. — Every book should be covered 
at the beginning of each term and kept covered. 
If the authorities furnish patent covers, the mat- 
ter is easy. Where this is not the case, consider- 
able vigilance on the part of the teacher will be 
required to keep covers on the books. Flimsy 
wrapping paper or newspaper covers should not 
be accepted. Nothing but stout manila or cloth 
will do. Cloth is sometimes objected to on 
account of its germ-bearing capacity, but if all 
books are recovered at the beginning of each 
term, the argument against cloth is not valid, and 
the advantages of such material are very decided. 
It easily lasts a whole term, children are not 
tempted to scribble on it, and the expense and 
trouble involved are an additional incentive for 
taking good care of the books. 

Every pupil should be required, on receiving a 
book, to enter in ink on the inside of the front 
cover the following information: (1) Name; 
(2) School and class ; (3) Condition; (4) Date. 

Once a month the books should be inspected, 
and their condition should be reported to the 
parents as a part of the monthly record. 



106 Class Discipline. 

Supplementary Reading. 

These are usually kept in some closet in charge 
of a particular teacher, where they are accessible 
to all the classes of a given grade. When a 
teacher sends for a set of supplementary readers 
he should have them counted before they are 
given out and again after they are collected. 
He will then be able to testify from personal 
knowledge, in case of need, that no book went 
astray in his room. While the books are in use 
he should be particularly careful that they are 
not mutilated or marked by the children. The 
temptation to injure such books seems to be very 
great, because it is difficult to detect the culprit. 
Unless the keenest vigilance is constantly exer- 
cised it may happen, for instance, that a new set 
of physiologies will be unfit for use at the end of 
the first term. On the contrary, in a well-disci- 
plined school, a set of readers will last for years. 

Closets Locked. 
Keep your closets locked. Children should not 
be tempted by the exposure of attractive ma- 
terial. When you least expect it something 
valuable will disappear. Pupils from other clas- 
ses passing through your room may turn thieves, 
and, peradventure, your own may be guilty. It 
is always easy to be wise after the event. After 
your watch or purse or valuable wrap is gone, 



Class Discipline. 107 

you realize how foolish it was to have been so 
careless. It is difficult to catch the thief, and if 
you accuse innocent children you are sure to get 
into trouble with their parents. It is a safe rule 
never to leave your room without locking up 
ever\- closet and drawer. 

The school authorities have provided locks, 
and why should we not use them? Th^ very 
moment a lock is broken or a key lost the princi- 
pal should be notified, that he may take steps to 
have the damage repaired. I have had more than 
one teacher complain about the disappearance of 
her supplies who, when questioned, admitted that 
the lock of her closet was broken and that she 
had never reported it. Good class management 
includes proper care of the physical condition of 
the classroom. 

A teacher's artistic temperament should make 
it intolerable for her to look upon a broken 
window-shade, or a dilapidated wall map, or dis- 
arranged and dusty decorations of any kind. 
What she can mend should be attended to by her- 
self ; the rest should be reported to the principal. 



H3C. 

The Class Library. 

How to Secure Books. 

Whether the library of the school is to be ad- 
ministered as a single institution or is to be 
divided into as many sections as there are classes 
is a matter for the decision of the principal or 
superintendent. But in either case the teacher 
has a certain responsibility. The suggestion^ 
here made apply chiefly to the class library, but 
the remarks on the " Purpose of a library," 
" How to realize the object," and " Who may use 
the library," arc equally pertinent in the case of 
a general library. 

The books should be supplied by the princi- 
pal, either out of the special library fund or out 
of the general supply fund, if this be permis- 
sible. Resourceful teachers, however, find means 
of establishing libraries even where no official as- 
sistance is given. Pupils can be induced to loan 
or contribute books out of their private stock at 

108 



Class Discipline. 109 

home. Sometimes a class paper is published 
(possible only in the higher grades) at a profit, 
and perhaps well-to-do parents who learn of the 
ambitions of the class, insist on making a special 
contribution. At any rate, in nearly all cases 
where there is a will to gather a library, a way 
is found to do it. 

The teacher must exercise wise caution in ac- 
cepting contributed books. He must rigidly 
exclude all trashy stuff, all books whose print is 
too small, everything of a sectarian character, 
everything that is in any way morally unfit for 
children. Some of the finest classics in English 
will thus have to be rejected. " The Scarlet 
Letter," for instance, or an un-edited copy of 
" Gulliver's Travels " would, in my judgment, 
be improper reading for a child in the grades. 

The Catalogue. 
A complete list of the books in the library with 
title, author, and catalogue number should be ac- 
cessible to every pupil. If the number of dif- 
ferent books is small, children may copy the 
catalogue into their note-books. If this involves 
too much labor, let a single copy be posted in a 
convenient place in the room. 

Who May Use the Library. 
Some teachers restrict the privileges of the 
library to the use of meritorious pupils. This 



110 Class Discipline. 

course is not to be commended. " Bad " boys 
are such sometimes because they have not enough 
work to keep them busy. The library books in 
such cases are very useful in furnishing material 
for the exercise of idle brains. Frequently, too, 
an indifferent pupil becomes interested in reg- 
ular school work through a skilful use of the li- 
brary. The only children that are properly de- 
nied access to the library are those who mark or 
destroy books. A pupil who loses or fails to re- 
turn a book when due, should be compelled to re- 
place the same. Failing in this he must be 
promptly sent to the principal. 

The Limit of Time. 
Two weeks is a reasonable time to allow for the 
return of a book. Usually the reader should have 
the privilege of renewal for a week or two longer. 

Purpose of the Library. 
The immediate and primary aim of the school 
library is the enjoyment of good books. In this 
respect the reading of library books is to be 
sharply distinguished from other school reading. 
Pleasure may be an incidental aim in other read- 
ing, but here it is the chief one. Information, 
which in " supplementary " reading is one of the 
primary objects, in library reading is incidental. 
We propose here the literal application of the 
Herbartian doctrine of interest ; namely, that 



Class Discipline. Ill 

interest: is the end of the whole business, and 
knowledge a means of acquiring it. The object 
of the library is to give the pupil an appetite for 
good books. This can only be done by letting 
him taste the literary dainties that tickle his own 
palate. There is no use in telling him he ought 
to read this and that, or he ought to read with 
this and that purpose in view. Library reading, 
to be effective, must be done by the pupil's vol- 
untary effort ; and unless he is interested in the 
books you give him, you have no guarantee that 
he will read any of them to please you. 

For these reasons the selection of books for a 
class library is an exceedingly difficult task. 
Publishers issue volumes by the thousand, but, 
alas, how few of these are suitable for any given 
grade ! If they possess interest, they lack liter- 
ary merit. If they have this merit, they are too 
difficult. Sometimes the text is suitable, but 
the pictures offend. Then, again, both these 
may pass muster, but the type is too small, or 
the spacing is too narrow, or the paper is too 
poor, or the binding is objectionable. The li- 
brary catalogue of Manhattan Borough, New 
York City, formerly contained more than three 
thousand titles. Yet when one undertook to 
select from it books for class reading he was 
sorely puzzled to find material that was entirely 
satisfactory from all points of view. 



112 Class Discipline. 

How to Realize the Purpose. 

Interest in reading being the primary aim of 
the library, what can the teacher do to stimulate 
that interest ? Providing the right kind of books 
is, of course, the most effective means ; without 
these the task is well-nigh hopeless. There are 
a few master minds, like Franklin and Lincoln, 
who in childhood devour with relish works on 
divinity, philosophy, and other abstract themes; 
but the majority of children are not attracted to 
this class of reading. For them the book must 
be simple in language and must treat subjects 
specially adapted to the experiences and fancies 
of childhood. 

The reading may be done either at home or in 
the class-room. If it is done in school there must 
be a " reading hour," and enough copies of one 
book to supply each pupil. It is better to have 
fifty copies of one good book than one copy each 
of fifty books. The advantage of having many 
copies is (1) that the teacher is able to conduct 
class exercises, and (2) the interest is greatly 
intensified when all are reading and discussing 
the same book at once. 

Whether the reading be done at home or at 
school, it should be carefully and appreciatively 
done. Each pupil should give before the class 
an oral or written account of at least one book 
during each term. He should be taught to note 



Class Discipline. 118 

the name of the author and to find out something 
of his life and the names of other hooks he has 
written. The teacher may, at convenient seasons, 
read effective passages from works of class au- 
thors not found in the school library, and thus 
the interest is widened and deepened, so that chil- 
dren will, of their own accord, join free libraries 
and read books of winch they have heard from 
their teachers. 



Index. 



Anget 19,26, 66 

&.< lams, John, on humor 51 

Butler, N. M., on human 

infancy 17 

Busy work 34 

Catalogue of library 100 

Catechism on discipline 58 

Carving desks 102 

Characteristics of the best 

teacher 2s 

—he relies on hini?elf 28 

—does not detain children 29 
—secures pupil's respect 30 

—described by children 31 

- teaches faithfully 33 

— encourages children 35 
—lays stress upon honor 36 
—employs humor 56; 58 
Children's work for decorat- 
ive purposes 96 

Class organization 76 

Class library 108 

Class punishment 30 

Class-room decoration 92 

Cleanliness 44 

Closets locked 106 

Corporal pur-ishment 62 

—spirit of this book 62 

—a relic of barbarism 64 

— firmnees -without anger 
or cruelty 65 

- standard of discipline estab- 
lished by principal 66 

—substitutes for 68, 71 

—where it is proper 70 

—report on, 71: suggested 

amendments 73 

Credits 52 

Decoration of class-room 92 
—why we decorate 92 

—how to decorate 91 

—children's work 96 

— plants and animals 96 
Devices of class government 



It 


, 47, 


49 


— graded punishments 




49 


- debits and credits 




51 


- sections 


53, 


54 


-the star sheet 




65 


—atmosphere 




55 


—humor 


56, 


58 


—standard of discipline 


es- 




tablished by principal 




66 


—notify parents 




69 


—send for parents 




70 


—suspend pupil 




70 


Dewey, John, ideal of 


edu 




cation 




8 


Tischarging pupils 




42 


Discipline and order 




23 


Degm.is of childhood 




11 


-pagan 




11 


— Christ ain 




12 


-theological 




14 


— romantic 




15 


—evolutionary 




16 


Drill 




40 


Economy in the use of 


sup 




plies 




101 


Eliot, Charles W., on 


indi 




vidualism 




9 


Ethics of the care of school 



100 



property 
Executive ability 
Factors of discipline 
—executive ability 
-drill 

—discharging pupils 
—giving out material 
—class spirit 
—class tone 
—punishments 
Faults of children 
Firmness without anger or 

cruelty 65 

Franklin on care of property 100 
Furniture, use of 102 

Government, basis and end 76 
Graded punishments 49 



25, 38 



45, 



Index. 



fierbart's ideal of education 8 
Incorrigible pupils 69, 70 

Ideal of discipline 67, 68, 76 
Ideals of education 7 

Individualism in education 9 
Infancy, Butler's definition 

of 17 

Judd, Charles H., on evolu- 
tionary theory of educa- 
tion 18 
Justice and efficiency 25 
Justice, the basis of school 
government 21 
Kratz, H. E., on character 

istics of best teacher 31 

Library, class 108 

— how to secure books 108 

—catalogue 109 

—■who may use the library 109 
—limit of time 110 

—purpose of library read- 
ing 110 
—how to realize the purpose 112 
Living things for class-room 96 
Locking closets 106 
Mahaffy on ancient child 

murder 11 

Material, passing of 43 

Milton's ideal of education 8 
Monitorial system 28 

Montaigne's ideal of educa- 
tion 8 
Nails not to be driven into 

walls 97 

New ideals of discipline 18 

Obedience and command 23, 66 
Order and discpline 23 

Order defined 2 

Organization of class 76 

Parker on school order 22 

Parliamentary procedure 77 
Plants and animals for class- 
room 96 
Practice and precept 101 



responsible for 



Principal 

order 66 

—must train new teachers 68 

- a model of self-con*rol 68 
Property, care of 100 
—ethics of the case 100 
—furniture 102 

- text-books 103 

- supplementary readers 106 

- closets locked J06 
Public opinion of the school 48 
Punishments, graded 49 
Rebellion not to be toler- 
ated 69 

Receipts for supplies 104 

Report on corporal punish- 
ment 71 
Rousseau's ideal of educa- 
tion 9, 15 
Rules of order for Spell- 
binders 81 
School order defined 21 
Scolding 26, 68 
School room decoration 92 
Search, P. W., on individual- 
ism 9 
Sections in class 53, 54 
Self-government, methods 

of teaching 36, 76 

— class organization 76 

—Spellbinders 77 

—officers 78 

- constitution 80 
Social ideal in education 10 
Spencer's conception of edu- 
cation 8 

Spontaneity 65, 67 

Star sheet 55 

Sup'n't'r'y readers, care of 106 
Suspension of pupils, 70 

Text-books, care of 103 

Truant school for incorrigi- 
ble pupils 71 
Voice, use of 26 









. 



